Hold On
by Moondalian
Summary: AU: Yami’s life has been one bad thing after another. As Yuugi appears in it though, things seems to go better, and Yami slowly warms up to the world he’d blocked out to prevent anymore hurt. Why are there demons after him though? Lemon, YxYY
1. Prologue: Deal

**Authoress: Moondalian  
Editor: Mystic Dodo  
Summary: Yami's life has been one bad thing after another. As Yuugi appears in it htough, things seems to go better, and Yami slowly warms up to the world he'd blocked out to prevent anymore hurt. Why are there demons after him though?  
Pairing: Yami x Yuugi**

* * *

**Hello there people. I haven't posted anything in a while due to a writing contest – NaNoWriMo if anyone knows it – and this is the story that came out of that contest. I hope you all enjoy, and R&R!**

* * *

**--: Prologue :--  
Deal  **

Lightning flashed through a darkened sky as rain pounded down on everything in sight. Thunder boomed loudly to wake up sleeping children that cried for their mothers. People tried to run to their homes as fast as they could so they wouldn't get too soaked; a useless action as the storm currently raging could soak anyone in mere seconds.

In houses, lights burned to try and keep the darkness out of their houses, as people tried to ignore the loud rain that seemed to want to break through the windows.

Domino, Japan, in one of her more brutal storms.

In one of the many houses shone one of the many lights to keep the storm out, but it seemed the atmosphere inside wasn't much different from outside. Silence rang though the small house, only broken by the news report on the TV. Although at first sight there seemed to be nothing wrong, you could feel tension thick enough to cut when standing in the house. This household was the Atemu household.

A man and woman, both around their mid-thirties sat in the living room. The man, Atemu Yoru, had his ocean-blue eyes trained on the TV, seemingly very interested in what the news reporter had to say. At a piece of bad news, a heaved a sigh of frustration passed the man's lips as he ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair, making it even more messy than it had already been. He didn't seem to notice the storm raging around the house, too absorbed in the news.

The woman, Atemu Kireira, was sitting comfortably on the couch. In her hands she held a book of some kind, as a small smile graced her features. Her emerald green eyes shone with mirth as she read on; it seemed something good was happening in her book. A stray lock of ebony black hair fell into her line of vision, and she absently tucked in behind her ear again, her book too interesting to give a lot of attention to it.

A loud boom, the loudest one so far, snapped Kireira out of her story for a second as she looked out of the window. Her smile grew slightly as she listened to the rain hitting the window; for some reason it had always given a strange feeling of security to hear a storm outside while she herself was inside.

Her eyes drifted back to her book so she could read on, but the soft opening of a door made her look up again to see a small boy hesitantly opening the living room door.

The boy couldn't have been older than 10, probably a bit younger. His wild spiky ebony-black hair was tipped in crimson, as golden blonde bangs framed his face, some of the blonde shooting up in lightning shaped streaks into the spikes to stop just below the crimson. The boy's crimson-red orbs held a tinge of fear to them, as well as hesitation to come further into the living room. It was already past 11 o'clock after all, so he should be sleeping.

Both Kireira and Yoru looked at him, though both with different expressions. Yoru seemed annoyed by his appearance, as Kireira looked more worried why her son wasn't in his bed anymore.

"What is it, Yami?" Kireira asked softly as she laid her book down and patted her lap to invite the child to come sit in it.

Yami's eyes lit up and he quickly ran to his mother, crawling into her lap and hugging her, "The storm," he said softly as a flash of lightning shot through the sky. Yami quickly hid his head in his mother's chest, obviously frightened.

Yoru snorted, "You're 9, Yami. A measly storm like this shouldn't scare you anymore." His voice held disdain to it, and Yami just buried his hear further.

Kireira gave her husband a quick annoyed look, before she tightened the hold she had on Yami and smiled down at him, "Don't worry sweetie, the storm can't hurt you as long as you're inside." Another disapproving sound came from Yoru.

"You have to stop mothering him so much. No wonder he's such a wimp." Yami cowered, afraid of his father's rage. He shouldn't have come downstairs, but he'd been too panicked to think straight. Now his parents were going to fight again, and a fight with his father only led to one thing.

"Yoru, he's just a child. You can't expect him to be brave all the time." Yami stole a quick glance at his father to see his reaction. As he had feared, his father looked angry. He no longer had any attention for the TV, his eyes locked with Kireira's. Yami bit back a sob and held back his tears, before slowly pulling away from his mother a bit.

"No, I'll go back to bed." He wanted to stay, wanted to bury himself in his mother's warm embrace, but maybe he could still stop his father's rage. If his father would get too angry, he'd start hitting his mother again… and then he'd start hitting him.

Yes, Yoru was anything but a model father.

"Oh now you want to act brave?" Yami looked down at the ground again, his father's spiteful words hitting him hard as always. A small tear rolled down his cheek, as he only barely managed to contain the rest of them.

"Yoru, leave him alone." Kireira looked at her husband defiantly, her green eyes now holding a fire of anger. She knew what would happen if she pushed Yoru too far, but the downgrading had to stop. She wouldn't let it go on any longer.

Yoru's eyes narrowed, his crimson eyes turning a dark garnet. Yami knew he was too late now; when his father got that look there was no stopping him anymore. He tugged on his mother's blouse in a desperate way. They had to get away before it was too late!

"Don't talk to me like that, _woman_. I am the head of this household and I will not tolerate a tone one like that from anyone in _my_ house!" Burning emerald-green and garnet-red locked again, but neither of their gazes wavered. Yoru rose from the couch he had been sitting on, and walked towards Kireira and Yami with a dangerous look in his eyes. Kireira simply stood up as well, putting Yami on the ground next to her as she went. Her defiant look never left her face, and fear wasn't visible even the slightest bit, but Yami knew his mother was afraid. Afraid of being beaten once again. Afraid that Yoru would go after him when he was done with her.

"I've had it with the way that you always talk to me! I've had it with that weakling that dares to call himself my son!" Yoru's hand rose and formed a fist in the air. Kireira merely held her arms in front of her, knowing she couldn't do anything. Past experiences had taught her that fighting back only made him more mad. Yoru's fist hit fast and hard, throwing her back a few steps. She held back a pained groan, not wanting to give the man in front of her the pleasure of hearing her whimper.

"Mom!" Yami took a step in the direction of his mother only to be pushed back roughly by Yoru who glared at him. He fell to the ground with a soft whimper, more tears leaking from his eyes.

"You will stay out of this," Yoru's eyes flashed dangerously again; "you'll get your turn next." Yami's eyes widened in fear and he crawled back slightly, though he knew it was no use. Yoru turned back to his wife who had recovered from the last punch. He simply raised his fist again, and hit her in a different place. He always made sure to keep the places out of view, so no one could see it at first sight. He knew Kireira would never try to get away from him or report him, as he was the only financial income they had.

Yoru continued beating, his rage strangely only growing as he went on. Everything she had done wrong in his eyes, every time she had defied him, everything she had ever done to make him angry. It all seemed to come out at the same time, fuelling his anger more and more.

Kireira was by now laying on the ground, writhing in pain and no longer able to keep the whimpers from passing her lips. Tears of pain flowed freely from her usually cheerful friendly eyes, and the gentle look she usually wore on her features had changed into a scared one. Yoru was disgusted to see such weakness and wanted nothing more than to get rid of it. To get rid of _her_.

In a brief moment of true madness, he pulled Kireira up by the collar of her blouse and threw her against the wall with all his strength. A sickening snap was heard as her head hit the wall in a very odd angle, and she slowly sank to the ground. Yoru watched with raging eyes as blood trickled from the wound on her head and spread into her hair.

As he walked up to Kireira and grabbed her wrist to drag her away from the wall, he suddenly stopped. Her limp body fell to the ground as he let go of the arm with a brief flash of shock showing in his still angry eyes.

No pulse.

Kireira didn't have a pulse anymore.

A smirk came onto his features as he stared into her empty eyes, before a he laughed. He had finally gotten rid of something that had annoyed him for so long he couldn't even remember when it had started. It had been even been before Yami's birth, and Kireira had gotten pregnant after he had raped her. She had refused to put Yami up for adoption, and this had given Yoru a new way to vent his anger; a second person to beat up.

He stopped laughing as he heard sobs coming from the other side of the room. He looked at the other person in the room, and smirked menacingly at the boy. Yami had crawled away further and was sitting against the wall next to the door to the hall. Tears were making their way down his face as he had his face buried in his hands.

More weakness.

Yoru hated weakness.

Yoru had to get rid of that weakness, or simply kill the person having that weakness. Killing Kireira felt strangely satisfactory, so killing Yami wouldn't hurt.

Hurt him, anyway.

A strange gleam appeared in Yoru's eyes as he stood to his full length and faced his son.

"She's dead, Yami. _Dead_." Yami's head snapped up to stare at his father wide-eyed. He looked at the limp body of his mother laying at his father's feat, only to see the lifeless look in those usually sparkling eyes.

"M-mom?" Another sob escaped his throat as his father merely laughed. No, his mother couldn't be dead! She _couldn't_ be!

Yami stood, his eyes still locked with his mother's. He wanted this all to be some stupid nightmare. He just wanted to wake up and find his mother sitting on the edge of his bed with that reassuring smile on her face, telling him everything was okay and that he had to go back to sleep.

"No." Tears steamed freely now as he crumbled back to his knees pathetically. His mother really was dead, and his father just stood there, laughing. How could he?! And would he… be next? Fear gripped at him as his blurry gaze shot back up.

His father calmed down slowly, and then looked at him with that strange glint in his eyes. A glint that sadly enough spoke volumes. Yes, he _would_ be next.

"And now," Yoru took a step in Yami's direction, "it's time for you to say goodbye."

Yami scrambles to his feet panicked, and pressed against the wall fearfully as if it could somehow save him. He had to get away from his father,_ now_!

Quickly the young boy threw the door to the hallway open and ran as fast as he could, stumbling as he tried to run up the stairs. He could hear his father laughing maniacally as he followed, and tripped over the last step in his haste and panic, landing on the ground painfully. His sight was blurry because of all the tears and his knees were shaking. All in all, running wasn't really going well for him but he had to get away.

He scrambled back to his feet as he heard his father at the bottom of the stairs, and ran to his bedroom. If he could make it there, he could lock the door to keep his father out. He'd be safe then…

More footsteps were heard behind Yami and the frightened boy chanced a look back, wishing he hadn't done so after that since he could see his father almost at the top of the stairs. He looked ahead again and saw his bedroom door. Flinging it open, he quickly ran in and threw the door shut again behind him. He turned the key quickly to lock the door, sinking to the ground and panting like crazy after that.

He heard his father on the other side of the door and froze, praying to God that the man wouldn't be able to come in. The door handle moved, and cursing was heard. Well at least he'd stopped laughing now, though this didn't exactly take away any of the creepiness. More attempts at opening the door failed and the cursing grew louder as Yoru banged on the door. Yami crawled away from the door, his eyes still wide with fear and tears once again coming down his cheeks.

The banging on the door stopped, and the cursing could be heard fading away. Loud footsteps descended the stairs and Yami, through his tears, let out a shaky sigh of relief. His father had given up on trying to get in and he was still alive.

But his mother wasn't.

Yami stood up, and threw himself to his bed. His heart was being torn to shreds inside, and his head felt like someone had hit him with a hammer. Normally his mother would come and comfort him. Pull him into his lap and rock him until he fell asleep, telling him it was all going to be alright.

But that would never happen again, _never_.

A bright flash of lightning lit the room for a second, and suddenly someone else crying snapped Yami out of his depressive thoughts. He slowly raised his head to look at the other bed in the room, more grief ripping at his heart. In the corner stood a small bed with a baby laying in it. The baby had obviously woken up because of all the fuss going on, and wanted to get someone's attention now.

Despite himself, Yami smiled through his tears. A wry smile. Kumiko, his little sister, was so blissfully unaware of what was going on around her, only worrying about getting a little bit of attention so she could go back to sleep again.

Yami slowly stood up from his bed and walked over to his crying sister, rubbing his eyes to get rid of his own tears as he did. He looked down to see the contorted red face of Kumiko, arms trying to reach for something to grab onto. Yami reached down with his own arms and picked Kumiko up, hugging her close to him before walking back to his bed and sitting down.

Kumiko continued to cry, and Yami rocked her like his mother would always do to him, while whispering words of nonsense. Slowly Kumiko calmed down and rested against him, falling asleep only moments later. Yami smiled another wry smile, and tightened his hold on her.

"You're the only one I have left now," he whispered softly, clenching his eyes to hold back that tears that wanted to fall from them once more. Kumiko shifted in his arms and snuggled into him, a small smile gracing her lips. Yami stared for a second, before laying down on the bed with Kumiko still safely in his arms. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise." He sniffed, before pulling the cover over himself and Kumiko. No, he wouldn't let anything happen to his little sister; his little angel. He drifted off into a restless sleep, nightmares plaguing his mind constantly, while hugging Kumiko to him as if she were a lifeline… a lifeline to keeping his sanity.

* * *

Yoru rushed down the stairs, trying to think of something that would break the door to Yami's room down. He rushed into to the living room, knocking all kind of things to the ground in his haste and anger. Not that he cared; he just wanted something to get into that brat's room so he could finally get rid of him.

Yoru searched the room, and upon not finding anything raced to the kitchen. He couldn't find anything that he thought would work, and it only fuelled his anger further. With a cry of frustration, he kicked a chair that had already fallen over. The place looked like a war zone, but he couldn't care less.

A sudden source of light and heat made him turn around. A huge ball of fire – though it was purple-black fire surprisingly - had appeared out of nowhere, lighting up the room more than the lamps could ever do and producing heat the furnace could never rival. Yoru's eyes widened and he fell back in shock and fright. His anger was momentarily forgotten and he just stared, too stunned to do anything.

Slowly the ball of fire became smaller and seemed to take some sort of shape, until the fire disappeared, leaving the form of a human-like person behind. The man had long silver-grey hair and crimson-red eyes that held a dangerous gleam to them. He wore Egyptian-type robes that could only be fit for royalty, as a crown with a strange eye-like symbol adorned his head.

The strange thing about the man was though, that there were some obvious differences between this man, and a human being.

For one, the man had two leathery black wings on his back. The wings were folded, but Yoru could easily tell that they would be big when spread completely. The second feature that was different, were the two claws instead of hands at the end of the man's arms. As Yoru looked up to the man's face, he could see the man smirking at his shocked form, sharp demonic teeth shimmering in the artificial light.

Yoru's eyes widened to an almost impossible size. He must've gone insane or something because it was impossible for a creature like this to really be standing in front of him. A… _demon_? No, this couldn't be real.

The demonic man's smirk widened, amusement showing in the crimson depths of his eyes. He chuckled, making Yoru jump slightly at the sound. "Don't worry, Atemu-san. I'm not here to hurt you."

Yoru shook his head and pinched himself to make sure this was all real. Sadly enough, he could feel the stinging pain quite clearly, so obviously this wasn't a dream. _'Then I really must've gone insane…'_ he thought, looking the other man in the eye as if to prove that the man wasn't real.

The demon merely rolled his eyes for a second, before stepping closer to Yoru. The man automatically tried to crawl away again in reflex, but the demon was in no mood for 'cat-and-mouse' games today; he had business to discuss.

"I am not here to hurt you, but to make a deal with you. What would you say if I could give you wealth, fortune, and power." Yoru's eyes lit up with greed. Power? Fortune? Never mind him being insane, this sounded good.

Yoru finally came out of his stupor and stood up, looking at the demon in front of him with interest. If he was really going insane, then he might as well have a nice fantasy world to live in. Sure, he was standing in front of a demon that could easily rip him apart, and he was scared to death, but so far the demon hadn't done anything… yet anyway.

"I see you're interested," the demon smirked again, "My name is Aknunkanon, overlord of demons which basically means I hold all the power in Hell. I can give you anything you want," For a second he glanced at the dead body of Kireira still laying on the ground, "including a way to not go to prison for killing her."

Yoru listened very carefully and suddenly realized that he would indeed get arrested for killing Kireira unless he had an alibi of some sort. Well if this demon could get him out of that, he'd gladly accept. Yoru knew however, that there just had to be a catch. Nothing was free in this world, so he doubted a demon would come up to help out of the goodness of his heart.

"What's the price?" he asked slowly, keeping his eyes on the man in front of him.

"Ah, nothing much really," Aknunkanon slowly walked away from Yoru to stop at the door leading to the hallway. The door was still open and crying could be heard coming from upstairs. Aknunkanon turned back and pointed up, "I want you son."

Yoru frowned. What would a demon want with that brat son of his? He was a wimp, useless, and got in your way. And now this demon wanted the kid? Well fine by him; good riddance to bad rubbish.

"Is that all? You want the brat?" Yoru gave the demon a suspicious look but the other just laughed.

"That's the greatest part of it, yes. You see, I don't want him yet, I want him when he becomes 18. The second condition to my little proposal is that he has to be distrustful about the world so he will be easy to sway to my side." Aknunkanon glanced to the top of the stairs again. The crying had stopped, but he could still feel grief and sadness radiating off the room. Good, the more hurt Yami became because of Yoru, the more he would come to hate the man. Hate was something very easily manipulated and he could use that when he would make Yami a deal on the other's eighteenth birthday. Revenge was such a sweet thing.

He looked back at Yoru who was frowning, obviously thinking about what he had just said. Aknunkanon waited patiently, already knowing what the man's answer would be anyway. He could easily see the greed shining in the man's soul, and he would never pass a chance like this. Besides, the man had killed his wife without the tiniest bit of regret, even enjoying doing it. A conscience wouldn't stop him either.

"That's all? No wanting my soul after I die? Just that brat? Why?" Aknunkanon nodded. Ha, the man's soul was his anyway. There would be no way for someone like him to ever get into Heaven. Hell would be the only place Yoru would be going to after death. So why bother asking that for a price? No, Yami was much more important to him. Though he wasn't quite ready to tell why he wanted the boy so much.

"Why I want him is of no concern to you. Let's just say he's important to me. Now do we have a deal?" Aknunkanon held out his hand. If Yoru would shake it, the deal would be permanent. Magic would see to it that the deal would be kept no matter what. Even he, the overlord of the demons, could not break a deal that was made in this manner.

Yoru hesitated for a second, before taking the demon's hand and shaking it. Shadowy magic shot around their hands, making Yoru want to jerk back. The demdon's grip however was too strong and he couldn't do anything. Pain shot through his hand for a second before the magic disappeared, taking the pain with it.

"This deal cannot be broken. The one that does will perish a most painful death," Aknunkanon spoke as he released Yoru's hand. He stepped back and looked Yoru straight in the eyes for one last time, "I'll see you in nine years, Atemu-san," the fire ball that had appeared to bring Aknunkanon appeared around him again, before disappearing in a flash. Yoru stood stunned for a moment again, before shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

He glanced to the hallway and smirked, "It seems you just became my ticket to fortune kid." His smirk widened as he started to think of ways to make Yami distrustful to the world, and easy to lure into a deal with the devil. One thing was for sure; the next nine years wouldn't be pleasant for Yami.

* * *

**Man, I really gotta learn _not_ to kill/mangle people in my prologues °sweatdrops° Yeah… just ignore that okay people? I'm just crazy like this.  
Anyway, please review, and as I usually do, this story will be updated once a week, being Saturday. See you all next week! **


	2. Chapter 01: A regular day at school

**O.o;; wow, just one post and already this many reviews? I guess DLG got me more reviewers than I expected XD Well hello anyway people! Here comes the first real chap, so have fun and R&R!

* * *

**

**--: 01 :--  
A regular day at school **

Whispering, why was everyone always whispering when he walked by. Sure, he was the social outcast of probably the entire city, but couldn't people just leave him alone? He wasn't all that interesting to talk about, so why did people keep doing it?

Atemu Yami ran a hand through his tri-coloured hair, and pushed the golden-blonde bangs aside as they fell into his eyes. What he wouldn't give to shut all these people up.

It was just a normal day for him so far. He'd woken up early, done the last bits of his homework as his little sister Kumiko woke up as well, and then played with her until he had to go to school. He'd been walking for about ten minutes now and he'd almost reached the school building. Sadly enough that meant a lot of teenagers were around, and that meant everybody would stare at him and whisper in groups, saying what a weird guy he was and that they should all avoid him.

And avoiding him was exactly what Yami wanted them to do. He didn't need someone to hang around with, and he tried to keep it the way it was. The big con: all that damned whispering that he hated so much.

Yami sighed as he sat down under his favourite Sakura tree on the school grounds. It was a sunny day so a lot of people were still outside, trying to get as much sun as possible until the bell rang. Everybody knew this was Yami's spot though, so they avoided it like the plague.

Yami leaned back against the tree and looked around uninterestedly. He was met with the same sight as always. Girls in their far too short skirts for almost winter – part of the school uniform, surprisingly – chased after the popular guys who pretended to be uninterested, only to get more attention. The girls who were too shy or scared for such a direct approach simply stared at the guy they liked most, while only dreaming of actually talking to them. Yami rolled his eyes; what was so dammed hard about walking up to the person you liked and talking to them?

Sighing again, Yami glanced at his watch to see that the bell could ring any moment. Deciding that being trampled by the herd as everybody raced to their classes at once would be a bad thing, and that he had nothing better to do anyway, Yami stood up and entered the school

The school smelled like something had died a long time ago, and was still somewhere within the school walls. Yami had gotten used to the smell by now, but he sometimes still wondered how as new students always complained so much about it.

The school had small corridors, making some people wonder how so many people fitted in them at once. Every corridor seemed to lead into three different ones, creating a maze-like structure. It was a good thing Yami knew his ways around here perfectly well, though others still seemed to get lost at times; the school wasn't exactly build logically.

Hearing the bell ring – announcing the stampede of students that would soon follow – Yami quickly walked into his classroom. Experience had taught his all too well that getting caught in the stampede was a very bad thing.

"Good morning, Atemu-san." Yami gave the teacher a smile and bowed slightly for her.

"Good morning, Konaway-sensei." Sure, the smile was fake and his respect was only meant slightly, but at least he tried. He really wasn't a people-person, seeing as he had no friends and all, so he just tried to do his best by putting up a show. A show for everyone.

The teacher smiled back and Yami took his seat in the back of the classroom silently. Konaway-sensei continued to prepare for the lesson, instead of talking to him luckily, so he just stared out of the window next to him absentmindedly.

Soon the rest of the class entered the classroom, chatting happily amongst friends and waving arms to emphasize their points as they talked about something that had happened. Yami ignored it, not caring what the others had to say.

Everyone settled down as Konaway-sensei gestured for them to be quiet, and motioned to the door where someone new was standing. "This is Mutou Yuugi-san. He's a transfer student that recently moved here and will be joining our class."

Yami blinked… then blinked again… he blinked one last time before comprehending that his eyes weren't playing tricks on him and he had seen correctly.

The new student looked a whole lot like him.

There were a few differences though. The boy looked no older than 14, with less sharp features and big childlike eyes. His eyes where a vibrant amethyst, whilst Yami's were crimson as well. And although their hairstyles were almost identical, the other's was less wild, with none of the golden-blonde bangs shooting up into the ebony-black hair. The tips of the boy's hair were also amethyst where Yami's were crimson. Also, the boy was shorter than him, and he wasn't exactly tall as it was, which only added to the childlike and innocent appearance the boy gave.

Not only Yami, but the rest of the class were staring as well, murmuring and glancing between Yuugi and Yami. Yuugi hesitantly stepped further into the classroom, and shyly met the stunned expressions of his new classmates.

"Well I'm afraid there's only one more place for you to sit, Mutou-san. And that's next to Atemu-san." Yuugi smiled as the teacher called for Yami to raise his hand, and slowly walked to the back of the class at someone did indeed raise his hand. A small blush dusted his cheeks as people still watched his every move while still whispering. As he reaches his seat, he sat down nervously, as he felt the eyes of his new neighbour on him.

Yami finally snapped back to reality and leaned back in his seat, his gaze now more curious than shocked. Did his father have any family named Mutou? Well it wouldn't be the first time that his father hadn't told him something, so it was very possible. He had to admit though, he was curious about the boy.

"Alright class, let's start for today." Konaway-sensei started and everybody quietened down again. During the entire class, Yami never really paid much attention – he didn't have the concentration for it – so he had all the time to sneak glances at his look-alike. The boy didn't seem to have even looked at him, for surely he would've been shocked as well at their likeness.

"Atemu-san, are you still with us? Or is Mutou-san that interesting?" Yami snapped out of his thoughts and gave the teacher an annoyed look. The rest of the class had started giggling and as he glanced aside, Yuugi was looking at him and blushing. And damn it, it looked cute.

Wait… _cute?!_. Where had that come from? The only thing in his life that was cute was Kumiko!

Yami shook his head to clear it again; this definitely wasn't going to be his day.

"Atemu-san?!" Yami looked back at the now annoyed teacher. Oh yeah, he'd forgotten that she was there too. Damn teachers; you just kept forgetting about them.

"I'm sorry, Konaway-sensei. I was just… somewhere else with my thoughts." Okay, so he didn't mean his apology and the teacher probably knew it as he always zoned out in class. Well at least he had the decency to say something instead of just shrugging like certain other people would do.

"You always seem to be somewhere else when you're in class. Maybe you should visit the principal to see if he can wake you up sufficiently?" Yami inwardly cringed at the thought of having to go to the principal. He didn't exactly have a very good relationship with the man, and going there would definitely mean detention for a month. That would get his father angry again… which lead to another beating.

Yami sighted and shook his head, "No, that won't be necessary."

"Then I suggest paying attention." Yami resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This is how it always went, but Konaway-sensei had never sent him to the principal. The threat wasn't exactly threatening when you looked at it like that.

He glanced back at Yuugi again to see the other still looking at him with the blush still lightly visible. Yami hesitantly flashed him an apologetic smile. He had no idea what he was doing, but it felt right, so he just went with it.

Yuugi smiled back – his blush not leaving though, and even deepening a little. He quickly averted his eyes and looked back to the teacher. Konaway-sensei had started class again, but seemed to leave Yami alone now.

As class finally ended, everybody started to talk again, the words 'Atemu-san' and 'Mutou-san' falling more than once. Looks were once again thrown at the duo, making Yuugi blush and fiddle with the jacket of his uniform nervously, as Yami glared at them for all he was worth. If looks could only kill.

All students left the classroom and Yami sighed in frustration as he gathered his things. Why couldn't they all just leave him alone?!

He glanced next to him to see Yuugi packing his things as well, his hands shaking a little which proved that he was still nervous. Yami hesitated again, before just going with the flow and pushing away the voice in his head that was yelling at him to ignore everything around him.

"I'm sorry about that… I'm not the most popular guy at school so a new student that looks a lot like me is something they just have to talk about," he sighed, "it'll probably also ruin your status without any reason."

Yuugi smiled, "That's okay; it's not your fault and I'm not exactly here for a popularity contest," he shrugged, "besides, if they're that shallow, I don't want friends like them."

Yami nodded, glad that at least one person in this school wasn't a total popularity freak. Glancing at the clock though, he sighed and smiled at Yuugi again, "Well we better get to class before we're too late, ne?"

Yuugi nodded and both boys left the classroom, each going to another class. Yami felt strangely disappointed that Yuugi wouldn't be next to him. He had to admit that the boy was cute, and that for as far as he had seen, he wasn't all that bad to hang around with. He grudgingly also had to admit that maybe it would be nice to have someone to talk to at school, which really took a lot since he didn't exactly trust people. On the other hand, there was just something about Yuugi that screamed innocence and demanded trust, as well as a need to be protected. Yami had a weak spot for people like that, as they reminded him too much of Kumiko.

Next period started just as he sat down, and he spends the entire class just staring outside, thinking of nothing in particular, and just hoping class would end soon. He could sometimes feel the teacher looking at him with disapproving looks, but all the teachers had long since stopped trying to get his attention during class – the exception being Konaway-sensei since she still tried. Besides, he was one of the top students of the school so they really didn't have anything to complain about.

Class ended without much happening, and that meant break started. Yet another stampede only this time with everybody trying to get out of the school building or into the cafeteria as fast as humanly possible. Yami just rolled his eyes and slowly packed his things, knowing it wouldn't do anything for him to join the herd.

He left the building to go sit under his tree again, but before he could he heard a somewhat familiar voice calling out for help. He looked up, only half interested in what was going on, to see a group of bullies standing around their latest victim.

Yami shrugged to himself; bullying was something that was done a lot around here, so it wasn't exactly a new sight for him. He once again wanted to sit down when the voice cried out again, and Yami finally realized why the voice sounded familiar. He gaze shot up to the person laying on the ground to see if he was indeed right, and spiky tri-coloured hair in a similar style to his own met his eyes. Yami groaned; it was Yuugi.

Now it was obvious that Yuugi was getting bullied because he was so short, but Yami knew there was also a second reason, and that reason was that they looked so much alike. Yami was a social outcast and avoided as much as possible. He would've surely been bullied as well, but he was too strong for the bullies to really handle, so they left him alone. Yuugi however, looked nothing like the age he simply had to be, and was an easy target to bully. Yami sighed and shook his head; he had to go help the other since this was party his fault. God he hated this all.

"What's wrong pipsqueak? No one coming to save you?" Yuugi cowered and whimpered as he was kicked in his stomach for the umpteenth time. His body was hurting all over and he knew he'd be carrying bruises all over for quite some time. He heard the bully that had spoken laugh at his reaction, before just continuing with the insults.

Yuugi braced himself for the next kick, when he heard a new voice. For a split-second he thought a new bully had come to join the others, before recognizing the deep baritone voice of Yami. His eyes opened slightly to see the other standing behind one of the bullies with a glare on his face to kill. The bully – Ushio was it? – took one step back in surprise, but didn't seem very intimidated. He matched Yami's glare with one of his own, both looks unwavering.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't mister solitude. Come to save your little twin here?" Ushio mocked, his eyes still set in a glare but showing the slightest bit of amusement as well.

Yami glared harder, "I said, leave him alone. You've already tried to beat me up and you failed even with your goon-squad. I'll be happy to fight you again, but I'm giving you one chance to get the hell out of here."

Yuugi could see the slightest bit of a flinch in Ushio's eyes, but the other didn't back down quite yet, "Oh yeah, who says we didn't get any stronger huh?"

Yami snorted, "Who says I didn't become stronger too? Now get lost!" Ushio and Yami glared for a few more seconds, before Ushio snorted and backed down.

"To hell with this, you're not worth my time Atemu. We're leaving." The small group walked away, and Yami smirked, _'Cowards.'_ He looked back at Yuugi who was still lying on the ground. Hesitantly he crouched down and put a hand on the smaller's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Yuugi slowly nodded, and took the hand that Yami held out for him to take. Slowly Yami helped him get up and led him to one of the Sakura trees. "Yeah, I'm just sure I'm going to have a whole lot of bruises for a while." He winced slightly as he sat down.

Yami chuckled, and sat down next to him, "Sorry, them bullying you is party my fault…" he gave another apologetic smile, though why he didn't know exactly. It wasn't like he wanted the bullies to go after Yuugi.

"Your fault?" Yuugi laughed a little, "Just because we look alike doesn't make it your fault that they're bullying me." He gave the other a bright smile.

Yami stared, for a moment reminded of how Kumiko always said nothing was his fault and the smile she'd give him, before catching the thought and cursing himself. Yuugi was _not_ Kumiko. Why had he even bothered to help the other anyway? He never bothered!

"Anyway, thank you very much, Atemu-san. If you hadn't helped they would've continued for a while I think." Yuugi cringed and unconsciously hugged himself. "I'm not really used to getting bullied; it never happened where I come from."

Yami raised an eyebrow, "Really? Where do you come from?" A place where bullying didn't happen? That must've been heaven on Earth or something.

Yuugi smiled again, though it looked more mysterious than anything else this time, "Let's just say I come from pretty far away." He really couldn't say exactly where he'd lived before; he would be breaking even more rules than he'd already done if he did that.

Yami studied him for a second, before shrugging. If Yuugi didn't want to tell him than fine. It did get him curious, but oh well. Well, if Yuugi was going to sit with him during the rest of the lunch break, they might as well talk… right? His social skills were almost none existent, but that sounded about right. "So… where do you live?"

"On the north side of town, in one of the apartment complexes. I live there by myself but my grandfather pays the rent for me and all." Yuugi had a distant look on his face for a second, but then smiled up at Yami again. "It's pretty cool though it gets a bit lonely since I don't know many people here yet and all. What about you?"

"I live pretty close to that. I live with my father and little sister in one of the mansions close to that complex. My father's a successful business man and likes to show off. My sister's 9 now and studies in the junior high part of the school. She's got the day off today though, so she's not here now." Yami smiled at the though of Kumiko. Usually she'd be sitting here with him, but for some reason classes had been cancelled today so she stayed home. She'd offered to come to school during lunch anyway, but Yami had refused, saying it was too dangerous for her to come all the way here by herself. Yes, he was slightly overprotective of her, but she was the most important person to him in the entire world, so he had the right in his opinion.

Yuugi giggled, "You talk about her as if she means everything to you," he smiled as he saw the nod from Yami.

"She does, she means everything to me."

Yuugi sighed and looked at the ground with a bit of sadness now showing in his eyes, "I wish I had someone like that…" His mind went back to all the friends he had left behind when he went away. He really did miss them.

"What about your parents?" Yami cocked his head, "Don't they mean a lot to you?"

"Well my parents died when I was really young, so I never really got to know them. I lived with my grandfather, but I don't think I'll ever see him again." A tear appeared in those bright amethyst eyes, and slowly fell down Yuugi's cheek. Yami hesitantly raised his hand and wiped the tear away. Man, he was hesitating a lot today. On one hand it annoyed him, but he knew he had no real experience in this department so it couldn't be helped.

"Can't you just go back to where you came from?" Yuugi shook his head, not saying a word and forcing the other tears that were about to fall down back. This was no time to be crying or thinking about his past. He'd made a choice when he came here and he would keep to that choice.

"Yuugi?" The younger looked up into crimson eyes that held a slight bit of worry in them. It was obvious that Yami wasn't used to comforting people, but was trying anyway. Yuugi gave him a small smile and wiped the rest of his tears away.

"I'm okay, just…" he trailed off, not knowing how to explain everything without breaking any more rules than he already had so far.

Yami just nodded in understanding, "It's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." They sat in silence for a while, neither knowing what to say and just eating their lunch. The silence was broken however, when a female brunette ran towards them, yelling Yami's name loudly and making everyone look at her.

"Yami-kun!" she nearly threw herself at the older boy, but managed to contain herself enough to just sit next to him. The fact that she was leaning towards him and nearly hanging over his lap because of it obviously didn't count in her opinion.

Yami scowled and shifted away from the brunette, "What is it, Mazaki-san?" It was obvious that he didn't like the girl, and it was heard in his voice quite clearly. The brunette didn't seem to notice though, and if she did then she simply ignored it.

"How many times do have to tell you to call me Anzu?" She smiled a seductive smile that would've made any guy's heart beat faster, though Yami seemed to be unaffected. "So how were classes?"

Yami resisted the urge to strangle the overly cheerful girl next to him. Mazaki Anzu, his stalker and nightmare for life. She was the only one that wouldn't leave him alone no matter how he treated her, and it irked him to no end. "Peaceful, you weren't in them." How obvious could he be?

Anzu giggled, "Oh silly, you must've been bored without me." Suddenly she noticed they had other company, and she looked at Yuugi who was overlooking the scene curiously. "Who's this?" Her always overly cheerful tone seemed to hold disappointment because she wasn't alone with Yami, but she masked it very well.

Too bad Yami heard it anyway. He smirked as he saw a chance to get rid of the girl for today, and just hoped Yuugi would play along. He glanced at Yuugi with a look that only told of mischief, and a slight bit of a question if Yuugi wanted to join him.

Yuugi, although he had no idea what Yami had planned, gave the slightest bit of a nod. It was obvious that Yami didn't like this girl and wanted to get rid of her, so he'd help.

Yami's smirk widened, and he suddenly pulled Yuugi closer to him, "This? This is my new friend, Mutou Yuugi-kun. We were just discussing what we should do after school." The slight suggestiveness in his voice was undeniably there, and Anzu definitely heard it loud and clear.

Yuugi heard it too sadly enough, and blushed bright crimson. Even though he knew Yami was only trying to get rid of the annoying brunette, he couldn't help but let his mind wander ever so slightly as he felt Yami's grip tighten. Something that only made him blush even more.

Anzu's mouth dropped open and she stared at the two look-alikes with wide eyes. _Her_ Yami and this pipsqueak?! No way in hell was she going to let that happen. Her gaze turned to Yuugi and she glared. "I see, and if I'm not mistaking Mutou-san is the new student." Her glare only intensified and Yuugi visibly shivered. "Let me welcome you to Domino high then. I'm sure you'll have a _great_ stay here." There was a not-so-silent threat in her words and a promise that he wouldn't be having such a great time here at all.

Yuugi unconsciously leaned into Yami's touch and felt the other stroking his back soothingly as crimson-red orbs glared in an intimidating way.

"I'm sure he will, as I'll be showing him around." Anzu's gaze locked with Yami's and a silent challenge was made. Anzu would try to make Yuugi's stay here as miserable as possible for stealing away 'her' Yami, and Yami would do everything he could to protect his smaller look-alike.

"Well then I suppose I must be leaving; cheerleader practise is starting in a few minutes." Anzu stood up and started to walk away. One last glare was thrown at Yuugi, before she disappeared into the school.

Yami groaned as he looked at Yuugi again, knowing he'd seriously just condemned the other to a world of bullying. "I'm really sorry; I didn't know she was going to react like that." He let Yuugi go and sighed, muttering the word 'bitch' under his breath.

Yuugi beat down the blush still visible on his cheeks as best he could, before looking up at Yami again, "I really don't like her…" he frowned, usually he could get along with just about anybody, bullies obviously not included.

"Nor do I, but she's had a crush on me since… well ever since we met I think. She's as shallow as you can get, but has quite some power here at school since she's the head cheerleader," he let out a sigh, "and she's determined to make your life a living hell now."

"Yeah, I got that from the way she was talking," Yuugi shivered, "but it's okay; everybody helping her is just as bad as she is."

"True," Yami nodded, but he still felt guilty, a feeling he wasn't used to, "but now those bullies really aren't going to leave you alone. And this time it really is my fault since I challenged her."

Yuugi just shrugged and smiled, "Well then you'll just have to scare them off again, Atemu-san."

Yami shook his head, "Well, then call me Yami. Atemu sounds far too uptight for my liking." His mind was confused as to why he bothered to help – he usually wouldn't have cared – and why he had just told Yuugi to call him by his first name, but it just slipped out of his mouth before he could stop it. And just one look at the bright smile on Yuugi's face told him it would be impossible to take back too.

Damn this boy for reminding him so much of Kumiko.

"Well then, Yami-kun. Call me Yuugi."

The bell rang at that point and both boys got up to go back to class. Yami just hoped that Yuugi wouldn't have any classes with Anzu unless he was in it too, or he wouldn't be able to protect the other like he had just promised. They split up, Yuugi heading for Math, and Yami heading for gym.

**

* * *

There ya all go. A - for my doing anyway - nice long chap. Next chap Kumiko will apprear again! °squeals° I made that girl too cute, I swear. Well hope you all liked and please review.**


	3. Chapter 02: My life

**Hey people! Thanks to all of you that are reviewing me. i really do love you all for it. Now I know a couple of people are just going to hate this chap... but it can´t be helped °sweatdrops° Good news too, though! Kumiko will be in this chap at long last! °squeals° I love that girl. Hope you all enjoy, and R&R!

* * *

**

**--: 02 :--  
My life **

"And then what happened, Mi-chan?" Yami smiled at the laughing girl skipping next to him merrily. He'd gotten out of school about an hour ago and had gone straight home for his usual walk through the park with Kumiko. They were currently walking around the large pond and Yami was telling about his day at school.

"Well Ushio backed off and left Yuugi-kun alone for the rest of the day," Yami grinned, "I think he was scared."

Kumiko giggled, "So you have a new friend now, Mi-chan?" She sat down under one of the trees. Yami sat down next to her with a thoughtful look on his face.

Was Yuugi a friend of his? No, he just couldn't allow that to happen. It would only hurt if something happened to the other and hurting was something Yami didn't want to be anymore.

"Mi-chan?" Yami snapped out of his thoughts, smiling at the curiously looking Kumiko.

"He's not really a friend, Tenshi. Just… someone I know."

"Oh," Kumiko sighed, "I was hoping you'd have someone else at school so you wouldn't be so lonely."

Yami smiled gently at his little sister, "I have you, so why would I be lonely?" He pulled Kumiko into his lap and the girl giggled again, snuggling into his chest with a bright smile on her face.

"I know, but I want you to have someone in class too, or when I'm not there like today."

Yami just hugged his little angel close, "You're the only one I need, Kumiko."

They sat there for a long time in a comfortable silence, until they heard the clock tower sound five times. Yami sighed and pulled away from Kumiko slightly, "It's time to go home, Tenshi. We'll be late if we don't."

Kumiko's face saddened. She loved just sitting here with Yami, doing nothing but staring at the scenery and the people walking by.

"I don't wanna go yet." She pouted cutely and snuggled back into Yami's chest.

Yami chuckled but stood up nonetheless, picking up Kumiko up as he went so they could leave. If he wasn't home on time, certain consequences would follow. _Painful_ consequences. Not that Kumiko knew about that, so he couldn't blame her for wanting to go against their father's wishes a little.

Kumiko just pouted even more, but didn't struggle in any way. Yami simply couldn't resist the cute sight of his sister, and his determination to get home as soon as possible fell faster than a brick thrown off a building.

He sighed and glanced around, noticing an ice-cream cart not too far away. He briefly wondered why an ice-cream cart would still be around at this time of the year, but he didn't really care. The line was pretty long, and it would take quite some time to get to the front, but Kumiko would love it. He smiled as he nudged his still sulking sister, "You want an ice-cream?"

Kumiko's expression changed faster than a cube of ice would melt in a raging hot fire. "Yay!"

She jumped out of Yami's arms as soon as she spotted the cart and ran to it as fast as possible. Yami smiled and followed the younger, glad that she wasn't sad anymore. He'd probably get into loads of trouble with his father, but he'd worry about that later; Kumiko was the only one that mattered at the moment.

Yami bought a chocolate ice-cream and now Kumiko was happily skipped next to him as they made their way home. Sure, Kumiko would probably get hyper but again, that was something to worry about later.

Yami gulped as they reached their apartment. One look on his watch told him it was already past half past 5; they were too late… and that meant Yoru would be angry. The man had recently gotten angry about any little thing that Yami did wrong, the beatings only getting worse and more frequent. Yami bit his lip slightly, but didn't want to worry Kumiko so kept his mask of confidence up.

They entered the house and as soon as they came into the living room, Yami could see the angry look on Yoru's face as the other got off the couch, his eyes promising pain and lots of it.

"Kumiko… why don't you go to my room okay? I'll be there in a few minutes." Yami smiled at the confused looking Kumiko, who slowly made her way up the stairs and into Yami's room. As soon as Yami heard the door to his room close, he gulped and looked back at his father. He tried to mask the fear in his eyes but some of it still showed ever so slightly.

"You're late." Yoru hissed, coming closer to Yami. Yami immediately backed up against the wall only a meter behind him. This was going to be very bad. He just hoped Kumiko wouldn't come down; he didn't want to scar the girl in any way. This would definitely be a way to scar her for life.

"I-I'm sorry." Yami tried to desperately think of an excuse that didn't involve Kumiko and was at least a little acceptable, but nothing came to mind.

"Sorry? I've told you a million times already that you have to be home before half past 5 and yet you still come home after that!" Yoru's fist connected with Yami's chest in a painful left hook and Yami stumbled, almost falling to the ground. He was so screwed.

Yoru continued to hiss at him while hitting every inch that Yami would be able to cover up. Yami quickly found himself on the ground, covered in fresh bruises that would be visible for weeks. He clenched his eyes shut to hold back tears that were about to run down his face but to no avail. Yoru just kept going, loving every whimper and suppressed cry of pain he got from the teen on the ground.

After ten minutes it finally stopped and Yami heard Yoru walk back to the couch, muttering darkly under his breath about worthless sons.

"Go to your room and don't come out until tomorrow. You're not getting any dinner." Yoru spat. Yami just got off the ground without a word, wincing at every movement. He made his way up the stairs and stopped in front of his door.

He sighed as he tried to look as normal as possible for Kumiko. Every step he took hurt and his clothes were a mess, but he'd just say he fell or something.

He opened the door and smiled at the girl sitting on his bed. She looked up with a bright smile and ran over to him to give him a hug. Yami winced again as small arms wrapped around him, but he ignored it for Kumiko's sake.

"What took you so long, Mi-chan?" Yami led the girl back to the bed and pulled her into his lap again.

"I just had to talk to father for a second since we were a little late," he ruffled Kumiko's hair playfully, "but I have homework so can you go to your room and play there for a while?"

Kumiko nodded, not seeing yet another wince as she hugged Yami again before running off to her own room, humming cheerfully to herself. Yami stood up and closed the door behind her, so she'd be out of sight and hopefully earshot as well.

Tears fell freely from his eyes now as he lay on his bed, burying his head in his pillow to mute his sobs as much as possible. God he hated his father for doing this time after time. He didn't understand why the man found so much pleasure in beating people up. His mind briefly flashed back to the night when Yoru had killed his mother, the only person trying to keep him out of harm's way. How Yoru had gotten away with it was still beyond him. It had been quite obvious that Yoru had been the one to kill Kireira, but somehow his attorney had gotten him out of it.

He pushed the thoughts of his mother out of his head as his heart clenched at her memory. He had to keep people out of his heart so it wouldn't hurt if they got hurt or left him. He didn't want to lose someone dear to him ever again, and the best way to do that was to just keep everyone out of his heart. Kumiko was the only that mattered to him, and that's why he was so overprotective of her. If anything every happened to his little angel, he'd kill whoever had hurt her.

He cried until he heard a soft knock at the door, and Kumiko's voice calling for him, "Mi-chan? You coming? Dinner's ready."

Yami steeled his voice as much as possible so she wouldn't hear he'd been crying, "I'm not hungry, Tenshi. I don't want any." It was a good thing she couldn't hear his stomach protesting against that statement, because it did at that moment.

"Oh," Kumiko sounded disappointed, and Yami could've hit himself for hurting her feelings like that. She probably thought he didn't want to be with her right now. "I'll see you later then…" Soft footsteps were heard going down the stairs, and new tears gathered in Yami's eyes. He once again buried his face in his pillow, hating himself as well as his father now.

He had no idea how long he'd been laying there, just crying and hugging his pillow to himself, but at one point his cell phone rang. He wiped his tears away and once again steeled his voice to sound natural. He let out a shaky breath before taking the call, "Hello? Yami speaking."

-"Hey Yami-kun."- Yami blinked as he recognized Yuugi's voice. He'd given his cell phone number to the other just in case he was ever in trouble and he wasn't anywhere around. The other didn't sound troubled though, completely the opposite actually.

"Yuugi-kun? Why are you calling?" Yami sat up, mentally cursing as his body protested against it.

-"Well it is Saturday night and we don't have any school tomorrow, and I'm bored. I thought maybe we could do something together?"-

Yami blinked in surprise for the second time. Yuugi was actually asking him to go somewhere and do things friends would normally do with each other. But Yuugi wasn't a friend… was he? No, he couldn't be!

"I don't know, Yuugi-kun. I have homework and everything so…" Yami trailed off. It was a crap excuse since he could always do it tomorrow, but he didn't want to hurt the other's feelings. He'd done that more than enough for today.

-"But can't you do that tomorrow? You'll have the entire day for it then."-

Damn it, Yuugi sounded disappointed, just like Kumiko had. Yami clenched his eyes; this just couldn't be happening to him.

-"Please, Yami-kun?"-

"I'll have to ask my father first." Yami groaned mentally. He couldn't exactly go down since Yoru had forbidden him to, but he had to ask if he could go no matter what. Sneaking out of his house would only get him a new beating if he got caught.

-"Okay, I'll hold."-

But damnit, Yuugi sounded happy again. Yami sighed, "I'll be right back."

Yami put the cell phone on his bed and slowly exited the room. He heard music coming from Kumiko's room so dinner must've ended already. He descended the stairs nervously, praying to God that Yoru would let him go – anywhere was better than in this damned house – or would at least let him go back upstairs without another beating.

The door creaked too much for Yami's liking, and Yoru obviously heard it too as the man turned around with an annoyed look. As soon as their eyes locked, anger flashed in Yoru's blue ones. "Didn't I tell you to stay in your room?! I don't want to see you for the rest of the day!"

Yami unconsciously took a step back, "I-I'm sorry, but I just wanted to ask if I could go somewhere."

Yoru snorted, "And where would you go?"

"Someone called and asked if I wanted to go somewhere…" Yami gulped and prayed Yoru would let him go. He wasn't sure if he was ready to let someone else besides Kumiko into his heart, but it seemed Yuugi was getting in without even trying. He liked the kid, and the other wasn't shallow or anything, so Yami supposed it wouldn't be all too bad if they got to know each other at least a little bit better.

Yoru's eyes widened in brief shock. Someone had actually asked if Yami wanted to do something with them, and Yami had actually accepted?! He thought he'd gotten to a point where Yami's only line to reality was Kumiko, but it seemed his son had gotten a friend of some sort. What was he supposed to do now? Forbidding Yami to go would be useless as the two probably saw each other at school. And he did want the brat away from him as much as possible.

His glare returned, "Fine, go to wherever the Hell you want. Just as long as you're not anywhere near me." He turned back to the TV and sat down on the couch again, ignoring Yami completely now.

Yami's eyes widened in shock as his father actually agreed, "What time do I have to be home?" he asked, not wanting a new beating for being late.

"I don't care." Yoru answered, throwing a brief glare his way for interrupting the TV. Yami practically ran out of the room, glad he was still in one piece. He was also very happy that his body had gotten used to all the beatings, and wouldn't hurt so much after even an hour anymore.

As Yami's door closed, Yoru sensed someone appearing in the room behind him. He scolded as he turned around to face one of the minions of Aknunkanon that kept his eye on everything that happened.

"You let him go," the minion stated coldly, "why?"

Yoru shrugged and turned back to the TV, "Why not. It gets him away from me for a while."

The demon narrowed his eyes on Yoru. "It also gives him a chance to befriend other people. I believe you were supposed to get him away from the world."

Yoru shrugged again, only half paying attention to the demon. He'd gotten over his fear for them a long time ago, since they kept popping up out of nowhere to check up on him. "They obviously met at school, so why bother trying to keep them away from each other if they'll see one another there anyway? It makes no sense. Besides, like this you can see who this friend of his is and get rid of them. When that happens Yami'll get hurt again which will make him turn his back on the world ever more. See? I did think this through you know. Now leave, I want to watch TV before my work calls with yet another problem for me to solve."

The demon glared at Yoru's back, but didn't say another word. He disappeared into the shadows, no doubt on his way to tell the others of the new news.

* * *

Yami ran up the stairs and back into his room before Yoru could take back his words. He quickly scooped the cell phone off the bed and held it to his ear again. The first smile that hadn't been caused by Kumiko since ages was playing on his lips and he actually felt happy that he was going to do something with the other boy.

"Yuugi? You still there?"

-"Yeah, what did your dad say?"-

Yuugi sounded curious and slightly worried. Yami smiled even brighter, "He said it was okay, didn't even give me a time to be back at home." Come to think of it, what time was it anyway? He quickly glanced at his watch to see it was ten past eight. "So what do you want to do?"

-"I don't know, I haven't been here for that long so I don't know what we can do. We'll just go walk around aimlessly until we find something we can do."-

"Sure, I'll come pick you up since I have a pretty good idea where you live. Just make sure you're standing in front of the door in about twenty minutes okay?"

-"Okay, see you in a few."-

Yami hung up and walked to the mirror to see how bad he really looked. He flinched at the sight that met his eyes.

His already red eyes were even redder because of all the crying he'd down. His hair was a complete mess, just like his clothes, and some of the bruises Yoru had just made were visible on his arms. In short, he looked like crap, probably even worse than that.

He let out a sigh of frustration before taking a comb and starting on his hair. It took him about five minutes before it was untangled and back to its normal spiky state, and another five to put enough make-up on to make his eyes look a little more normal. He quickly looked through his closet and took out a pair of fresh blue jeans and a sleeveless black leather shirt. He'd just have to keep a jacket on so Yuugi wouldn't be able to see the bruises on his arms.

Quickly he exited his room and went to Kumiko's. He found her drawing while singing along with the music. Yami stopped in the doorway and smiled at the girl still not noticing him there. Yami always loved to hear Kumiko sing, as she sounded like the angel he thought she really was. She was a very creative person in general, as she could already draw beautifully. Lucky for him her drawings where mostly for him.

"Kumiko?" The girl looked up slightly startled as her name was called, but smiled brightly as she saw Yami standing in the doorway.

"Mi-chan! Are you done with your homework?" Kumiko stood up to walk over to her brother and hug him. Yami winced once more because of all the bruises, but Kumiko didn't seem to notice. Plus, the pain was already less than a couple of hours ago.

"No, not yet. But Yuugi-kun called and asked if I wanted to do something fun." Yami ruffled the girl's hair again, "So I just came to say goodnight; I don't know when I'll be back again.

Kumiko just smiled brightly, "You're really going to do something? I knew you two were friends!" She giggled happily as she hugged Yami tighter. "Have fun!"

Yami smiled as Kumiko let go and cheerfully ran back to her drawing, singing along with her music again. He walked away slowly, Kumiko waving at him as he walked down the stairs.

As soon as Kumiko was out of sight though, Yami hurried through the hallway, grabbed his jacket, keys, and wallet, and made his way out of the door as fast as possible. His father had said that he didn't want to see Yami again today, and Yami had no problems with that. Besides, the less time he spend getting out of the house, the less time Yoru had to change his mind and forbid Yami to go.

As he closed the door behind him, Yami glanced at his watch to see he had about five more minutes to get to the large apartment complex; more than enough time.

He started walking with a smile on his face, actually looking forward to the rest of the evening, and already glad he had accepted Yuugi's invitation. He just hoped it would get his mind off Yoru, though he doubted it as he could still feel all his bruises with every step. Well it beat lying on his bed and crying the entire evening, ne?

* * *

**And that was it for this week people. I hope you all Review and I'll cya next week! °waves°**


	4. Chapter 03: Out

**Heya people! Thanx once more to all my reviewers, and have fun with the newest chap! I really did have fun writing this, so I hope you like it too. R&R people!**  
**

* * *

**

**--: 03 :--  
Out **

As Yami walked up to apartment complex, he could already see Yuugi waiting in front of the door, a small smile on his face and a faraway look in his eyes. He was obviously somewhere else, very deep in thought. A happy thought, seeing the smile.

"Yuugi-kun?" The boy snapped out of his trance as he heard his name and looked up to see Yami next to him. His smile increased and Yami once again had to admit that the boy looked cute when smiling like that. "Have you been waiting long for me?"

"Hey, Yami-kun. No, I've only been standing here for about a minute." Yuugi started walking in a random direction, "So any thought on where you want to go yet?"

Yami shrugged, "No, not really. I don't really go out much, so basically I'm as new as you are at this all." He sighed. He'd never done anything that normal teenagers his age would do at night, as he was always doing stuff with Kumiko. Kumiko didn't exactly go to clubs or anything, and couldn't stay up too late. In short, he had no idea what to do really.

"What about… we go to the movie, and after that we go to a club or something?" Yuugi looked up at Yami questioningly. He planned on showing Yami what a good time you could have with other people and that you didn't have to distrust them all, or keep them away from you as Yami was doing now. And, with some luck, he hoped he'd be one of the people Yami would see as one of his best friends.

"Sure, sounds good, and I actually know where the movie theatre is." Yami joked, faking to be proud of something like that. Yuugi giggled at the sight.

"Well then let's get going!" It took them about ten minutes to get to the movie theatre. While walking they'd just talked about small things in life. About things they liked and things they disliked, and just sweet nothingness. Yami felt strangely comfortable with how this was all going, as he'd expected it to be slightly awkward for him. He hadn't ever done anything remotely close to this after all.

As they entered the theatre, they looked through the list of movies and decided to go see one of the new horror movies. Yami loved horrors, but he could see a shiver running down Yuugi's spine at the mere mention of it. It was obvious that the smaller wasn't such a great fan of scary movies, but he'd agreed nonetheless.

During the movie Yami kept glancing at Yuugi to see if the other wasn't getting too scared or anything. For some reason he wanted to protect the other from as much as possible, just like he wanted to protect Kumiko. Was Yuugi reminding him of Kumiko and was that why they'd gotten along just fine so far? Of course the boy's appearance helped a lot in his favour too, as Yami still thought it simply screamed innocence; an innocence he was already getting determined to protect.

As he glanced at Yuugi for the umpteenth time, he could see the other flinching at a particularly painful scene, and push back into his seat a bit more. Yami chuckled lightly, before leaning a bit closer, "Scared, Yuugi-kun?"

Yuugi looked up with a start, but smiled as he saw warm crimson eyes looking at him, "A little, I'm not that used to horror movies and all…"

"We could've watched something else, you know." Yuugi just shrugged and looked back at the film, not bothering to answer Yami any further. Yami chucked again as Yuugi pushed back even more, before looking back at the movie himself.

After two and a half hour, the movie ended. You could see the relief beaming off Yuugi's face – even though he had to admit it was a very good movie – while Yami was half disappointed that it was already over. They left the theatre, and Yami stood still in front of the large doors hesitantly. Yuugi had said they'd go to a club now, but there were some problems with that.

For one, he had no idea where to find a club as he'd never gone to one before.

For two, clubs meant drinking. Drinking in said clubs mostly meant alcohol. Since Yami didn't drink much, he didn't have much of a resistance against it, and would get tipsy in almost no time at all.

For three, he couldn't dance, and clubs mostly meant dancing.

All problems combined made him a bit nervous, though Yuugi seemed to just fine, and didn't notice at all.

"So, any idea where a club is?" Yuugi looked at him questioningly.

"Actually, no. Never go to any of them. I've only heard of most of them and know vaguely where they are, but I don't know exactly." Yami looked around briefly and spotted a group of teens coming out of the movie theatre. "But they probably do."

Yuugi glanced at the group, and nodded, "Yeah, if we follow them they might just lead us to a club. I don't think they're done partying just yet."

They followed the noisy group quietly, until they indeed reached a night club. The neon lighting outside lit the entire area around it, as a bulky bouncer stood outside, checking if no one too young got in. One look at the sight told Yami that everyone under 16 would not be permitted.

"Uhm… no offence Yuugi-kun… but how old are you exactly?" Yami had no doubt that Yuugi wasn't the age he looked, as they were in the same year. But for all he knew Yuugi had skipped a class or something and wasn't 16 yet. If that was so they'd have to find another club that would allow them both, or maybe they'd have to sneak in.

Yuugi just giggled, "It is okay, Yami-kun; I know I look a whole lot younger than I really am. I'm 16 so there's no problem." He showed Yami an ID-card that indeed stated the age of 16, and Yami blinked in surprise for a second.

"Well then, let's go in shall we?" They walked to the bouncer, Yuugi already holding his ID-card out as he knew the bouncer would ask for it. The look of pure astonishment on the man's face was priceless, and as soon as both boys were inside they burst into laughter.

"That was just too funny. That guy really couldn't believe you were already 16!" Yami laughed. The pain the bruises all over his body were causing weren't even enough to stop him. Besides, most of the pain had already subsided anyway.

"I know, I get that reaction a lot." Yuugi giggled, and they walked to the bar, only to get the same disbelieving look from the bartender as they sat down.

"So what do you want to drink?" Yuugi grabbed the menu from the bar and both looked at it. Yami gulped at all the names he didn't know – and doubted he wanted to know – and glanced at Yuugi who had a similar confused look on his face.

"Okay, so most of these drinks mean absolutely nothing to me." Yuugi rubbed the back of his head nervously, "How about you?"

Yami shook his head, "No idea, but I'll just go with what I do know." He looked up at the bartender who was still looking at them in wonderment, "One Flugel, and… " he glanced at Yuugi who merely shrugged.

"Same." The bartender nodded stiffly before getting their drinks.

"So, wanna dance later?" Yami shivered at the question, and looked at Yuugi. The other was looking at the crowd dancing together. As Yami looked into the crowd as well, he could see why a light blush dusted Yuugi's cheeks.

Most people weren't really dancing there anymore, it was more like having dry sex or something. They were dancing so close it was like they were trying to push into their dance partner. Some guys had lost their shirts somewhere during the evening, and girls were barely wearing anything as it was. People also just switched partners like it was nothing, dancing exactly the same with the new one as they had with the old.

"I think I'll pass." He heard Yuugi giggle next to him, "What?" He resisted the urge to pout as Yuugi only laughed harder.

"Well not like that of course…" Yuugi's voice trailed off, and pleading eyes turned onto crimson depths, "But just normally?"

Yami tried to resist those eyes, but his determination once again crumbled to the ground; there was just no way would he ever refuse those pleading amethyst orbs. "Well… later, okay?"

Yuugi's pleading face turned into a happy one, and he gave Yami a bright smile, "Yeah, okay!"

They drank and talked for quite some time, and Yami could clearly feel the alcohol starting to work. He'd already had three flugel and some beer – he really hadn't kept count of that – and he knew he was tipsy, going drunk right now.

Of course, Yuugi wasn't much better. His usually bright eyes looked slightly dazed and clouded, and he made very random comments. Both boys were having the time of their lives though, and didn't care very much about getting drunk right now.

Mark the 'right now' part here, because they already knew they'd get hangovers in the morning, and would definitely care then.

"Ne Yami-kun? You promised me a dance you know." Yuugi jumped off the chair he'd been sitting on and grabbed Yami's hand.

"Aw, but I can't dance." Yami pouted, but let Yuugi pull him along. The sight off all those people dancing so close together was suddenly very appealing to him. After all, he'd be dancing with Yuugi.

A very short sensible thought entered his mind at that. Did he like Yuugi more than he should?

Of course in an almost drunk state, this thought was pushed aside very easily for a later time when Yami actually had the time to think about that. Until then, Yami just wanted to have fun.

The first song they danced to was danced apart from each other, like normal friends would do. During the second song, both boys inched closer to each other, and by the time the third song started, Yami was holding Yuugi in his arms, pulling the other closer to him. Yuugi didn't seem to object though, as his arms were around Yami's neck.

"Aren't you hot?" Yuugi's question had been asked without any wrong thoughts, but after asking it he did see how Yami could take it. "I m-mean, you're still wearing your jacket and all and it's pretty hot here and well-"

Yami cut his look-alike off by putting finger on the other's lips. "I know, Yuugi-kun." He couldn't help but smirk at the blush covering Yuugi's face now. "And yeah, I guess I am hot. Come on." He pulled Yuugi off the dance floor without second thought, and two walked over to the lobby to put Yami's jacket away. Yami, still not thinking straight because of the alcohol, simply put the jacket away and turned back to Yuugi.

The shocked face that met his eyes made him blink in wonder. "Yuugi-kun? What's wrong?"

"Your arms…" Yuugi ran a hand over one of the bruises now very visible there, "What happened?"

Yami's eyes widened for split-second, his mind working overtime to think of an excuse. He couldn't exactly tell Yuugi his father had beaten him up because he'd been home late, let alone that it happened on a regular basis. "Nothing, I just got into a fight when walking home." He gave Yuugi what was hopefully a reassuring smile.

Yuugi still looked concerned at one of the biggest bruises, and Yami started walking back to the dance area of the club, "Coming? Or have you had enough of dancing?"

Yuugi hesitated for a moment, obviously in doubt about Yami's explanation, but then followed nonetheless.

They danced some more, drank some more, and went totally into a drunken state. As they walked to Yuugi's apartment together around 3 in the morning, they laughed at practically everything they saw. Even a leaf falling from a tree seemed to be hilarious all of a sudden, and a cat meowing only made it worse.

They luckily reached Yuugi's house without getting themselves killed – although they did get lost once or twice – and Yuugi opened the door after about three times. Keys suddenly seemed very hard to work, and of course he had to find the right one first too.

"You know, I don't think you'll be able to find your way home like this," Yuugi giggled and leaned against the doorframe for support, "You wanna stay over tonight?"

Yami grinned, "Yuugi, I didn't know you were that type of guy!" Even in a drunken state Yuugi blushed at that, but laughed too. "But I'd love to. I really don't have a clue where I live at the moment."

They walked into the apartment still laughing for no reason at all, and before either of them knew it, they had crashed onto Yuugi's bed, too tired to argue over who got it and just sharing it – it was a two-person bed anyway. Sleep quickly claimed them, and they went into dreamland within no time.

* * *

A soft groan escaped Yami's lips as light assaulted his still closed eyes. He tried to turn around, not wanting to wake up quite yet, but something laying half on top of him stopped him. He frowned and tried again, only to receive a groan from whatever was laying on top of him, before it let out a content sigh and snuggled closer. 

Yami's frown deepened, and slowly his eyes opened, only to blink as the bright light met his crimson orbs.

Blinking a couple of times and letting his eyes get used to the brightness in the room, Yami looked down to finally see what was in his arms. His eyes widened slightly as he saw Yuugi snuggled into his chest with a content smile on his face. Not only that, but Yami's arms were wrapped around the younger's waist securely so the other couldn't move away from him.

Brief flashes of last night shot through Yami's head and the headache he hadn't felt so far decided to make itself known. Yami groaned again and clenched his eyes, making a mental note that hangover's sucked and that he never wanted to get drunk again.

The body on top of him moved and stirred slightly. Yami glanced down and looked into sleep-clouded amethyst eyes. Confusion showed in the purple depths for a second as Yuugi saw Yami and noted their position, before realization flashed through them and Yuugi groaned, again burying his head in Yami's chest.

Yami chuckled despite the throbbing in his head, "I see I'm not the only one with a killer headache."

Yuugi grunted, before raising his head slightly, "No, remind me why we kept drinking last night."

Yami thought for a second, but as his headache only got worse, stopped. "I'd love to think about that, but it makes my head hurt too much." He buried his face in Yuugi's hair to block out the still far too bright light.

Both suddenly realized completely in what kind of position they were, and blushed – Yuugi much deeper than Yami - before quickly disentangling from each other.

"Sorry, Yami-kun." Yuugi apologized hastily, bowing his head only to wince at the headache.

"No, it was my fault. I'm the one who should be sorry." Yami groaned as a new throb hit his head, "Ugh, damned headache."

"Just be glad neither of us is sick. Come on, I'll get us some aspirin." Yuugi crawled off the bed slowly, trying not to make any sudden movements with his head to keep the throbbing to a minimum. Yami followed after him in a similar way.

Yuugi got them both two aspirins and a glass of water, before glancing at the fridge as he gulped the water down and grunting.

"What's wrong, Yuugi-kun?" Yami put his glass down on the counter and looked at the other questioningly.

"I didn't get any groceries yesterday so I'm out of food," Yuugi sighed, "I'll have to get some before we can have breakfast I'm afraid."

Yami thought for a second – an action that of course made his head hurt again but he tried to ignore it for now. His father had probably already left for work since it was already 8, Kumiko was probably going to be worried if she woke up and he wasn't there yet, and he knew they had more than enough food.

"Why don't you come to my house for breakfast?" he proposed, rubbing his head in an attempt to soothe it.

Yuugi looked at him surprised, "Are you sure, Yami-kun? I wouldn't want to be a burden or anything."

Yami shrugged, "We both need breakfast and the easiest way to get it is my place at the moment. Besides," he grinned, "I know where I live again!"

Yuugi giggled at the triumphant look on Yami's face, before smiling gratefully, "Thank you, Yami-kun."

Yami waved it off, "No problem. Now come on." Both boys quickly grabbed their coats and walked out of the apartment, the still slightly cool morning air soothing both their heads a little as they walked to Yami's house, talking about what they still knew of last night – which wasn't a lot. Yami was happy that Yuugi had seemingly forgotten about all the bruises on his arms, as the other hadn't completely bought the excuse last night.

As soon as Yami opened the door to his house and called that he was home, the sound of someone running down the stairs was heard and Yami was tackle-hugged by Kumiko. Yami winced not only at the pain in his head, but also because of the bruises on his body. Sure, they'd stopped hurting as long as you didn't touch them, but being tackled didn't really help.

"Mi-chan! I was so worried when you weren't there when I woke up and daddy was already gone so I was all alone and…" Kumiko continued to ramble while holding a death grip on Yami.

"Easy Tenshi, I still need to breathe you know," Yami shot a mild glare at the giggling Yuugi standing next to him, "It's not funny!"

"Mi-chan? Who's this?" Kumiko let go and looked at Yuugi curiously. Yuugi looked back at her with a similar look on her face, once more making Yami wonder how much these two really had in common, and how much power Yuugi would have over him.

"This is Mutou Yuugi-kun, the boy I told you about yesterday. This is my little sister Atemu Kumiko," Yami ruffled Kumiko's hair, making her giggle in glee, "who just tried to kill me by merely hugging me."

Kumiko pouted cutely before looking at Yuugi and bowing respectfully, "Nice you meet you, Mutou-san."

Yuugi smiled, "Just call me Yuugi, Kumiko-chan. And it's very nice to meet you too. Yami-kun has told me a lot about you." Kumiko's face lit up even more at that statement, and she hugged Yami again.

"Tenshi! I really need air!" Yami laughed. Kumiko let go again, and he smiled as the girl pouted, "You had any breakfast yet?"

Kumiko shook her head, not stopping to pout. Her brother was going to feel the guilt and he'd apologize to her like he always did. Then she'd just hug him again and Yami wouldn't stop her. That's how it always went… well okay, sometimes it failed but it worked most of the time.

Yami shook his head, "Oh no, not this time! Come on, we'll go get that breakfast since Yuugi-kun and I haven't had any either.

Yuugi watched the two siblings with a smile on his face. It was obvious that the two cared very much for each other, and that Yami would do practically anything to protect the younger girl. He just hoped that would never be used against Yami…

"Are you coming, Yuugi-san?" Yuugi looked up to see Kumiko looking at him questioningly, holding her hand out for Yuugi to take. Yuugi smiled at her and took the hand. Kumiko smiled brightly and began to drag him to the kitchen where Yami was already baking eggs for all of them.

"I hope you like eggs?" Yami turned around to face Yuugi with a raised eyebrow. Yuugi just smiled and nodded, before being dragged along again by Kumiko.

Yami chuckled, "Be careful with him Kumiko, you're going to rip his arm off like that."

Kumiko giggled, "Well then he just has to come with me." She let go of Yuugi's hand nonetheless, and sat down at the dinning table.

Yami just shook his head, a smile still on his face, before finishing with the eggs and sitting down himself next to Yuugi. He handed everyone a plate and started to eat.

Yuugi spend the entire day at Yami's house that day, until Yami noted that his father was about to come home and tried to desperately get Yuugi out of the house as inconspicuous as possible. By the time Yuugi had grabbed his coat though, the door opened to reveal a pissed off Yoru.

_'Fuck, this is _not_ good. I don't want Yuugi-kun to know where those bruises really came from.' _Yami was panicking and knew this was not going to end well for him.

"Brat, why didn't you come home yesterday?!" Yoru stepped closer to Yami and the teen backed off slightly, his eyes showing fear and panic as plain as day. Yuugi, who had been standing next to Yami, looked between the two males worriedly. He didn't like seeing fear in those usually confident crimson orbs; it just didn't suit the owner.

"You said you didn't care when I got home, so…" Yami trailed off at seeing only more anger in his father's eyes at his excuse.

"So you just don't come home at all?! You think you can just stay away from home the entire night and get away with it?!" Yoru slapped Yami across the face, seemingly not even noticing Yuugi standing there and watching it all. Kumiko gasped as Yami took a step back at the impact. Her eyes were wide and tears were starting to form in the corners. Yuugi just stared, not believing his eyes.

"Kumiko, go to your room." Yami wasn't looking up, but his voice left no room for arguing. Kumiko hesitated for a second, but then ran upstairs as fast as she could. Whatever was going on, Yami obviously didn't want her to see it, and Yami always knew what was best for her.

"Still trying to protect her? Humpf, maybe I should go after her for once, huh." Yami didn't reply, and kept his gaze on the ground, his bangs preventing anyone from seeing his eyes.

"Go to your room and stay there. You're not going anywhere tonight and if you even dare to show your face down here, there will be heavy consequences." Yoru passed his son, giving the other a push to get him out of the way, before simply throwing his coat on the ground and walking into the kitchen.

"Y-Yami-kun?" Yami gritted his teeth and looked up into worried amethyst eyes, "Those bruises… they weren't from a fight, were they?"

* * *

**Well, you can all guess what'll happen next chap. Hope you all enjoyed and please Review!**


	5. Chapter 04: Wake up call

**Hey people! Hmm... getting less reviews... is everyone abondoning me or soemthing?! °tears appear in eyes° you... you hate me... DON'T YOU? °cries° Well °sniff° I'll still update °sniff sniff° even if you people do hate me.

* * *

**

--: 04 :--  
Wake up call 

Yami let out a sigh as he lay down on his bed, refusing to meet Yuugi's eyes as the other closed the door behind him and looked at him worriedly. Yami had refused to answer Yuugi's question downstairs and had turned around, walking to his room without saying anything. Yuugi had followed him, worried and wanting to help the other.

"Yami-kun?" Yuugi sat down next to the taller and put a hand on his shoulder. Yami groaned and buried his face in his pillow. This was _not_ happening to him. This just _couldn't_ be happening to him. No one was supposed to know what his father did…

"Please, just say something." Yami sighed and looked up into the panicking eyes of Yuugi. He looked down at the bed again and clenched his eyes.

"No, Yuugi-kun. I didn't get into a fight…" he looked at the wall next to his bed, away from Yuugi's gaze. This was the second big reason why he kept people out of his life; he didn't want them to see him weak.

"How long…" Yuugi couldn't finish his sentence and trailed off. The hand on Yami's shoulder tightened, trying to encourage the other to speak.

"For as long as I can remember. I can't even remember when it started really," he sat up and looked at Yuugi sadly, "but I can't really do much about it so I just have to live with it, ne?" he smiled wryly.

Yuugi frowned, "Why don't you go to the police? This is child abuse."

Yami laughed, actually finding the suggestion funny. At seeing Yuugi's confused and slightly offended look, he calmed down, "That man is more powerful than you think, and he'd get away with it without even the slightest bit of bad publicity," Yami sighed, "he did last time, after all."

Yuugi blinked, "Last time…?"

"Forget it, it's nothing," Yami looked away again. He couldn't exactly tell Yuugi that Yoru had killed his mother when had only been 9, and had gotten away with it without the slightest bit of trouble. Besides, he didn't know if he was ready to talk about that night. It still hurt to even think of his mother, let alone talk to someone about how she died. And he'd only known Yuugi for about two days now; could he trust something like that to the other already?

"Yami-kun… it helps to talk about it sometimes." Yuugi tried to sound as gentle as possible. He wanted to help the other very much, but Yami would have to tell him what happened first. Whatever it was had obviously traumatized the other, and the only way to heal from something like that was by talking about it.

"He…" Yami clenched his eyes, "just forget about it, Yuugi-kun. It was nothing."

Yuugi snorted, "Your father's beating you, and he got away with something bad before and that's why you won't go to the police now. You call that nothing, Yami-kun?" It hadn't come out as Yuugi had intended, but he just hoped Yami would get the message.

Yami sighed, "No, but I just… I don't want to talk about it. It's just…"

"Too painful?" Yuugi offered. Yami nodded and stared at the bed below him. "And that's exactly why you have to talk about it. You're never going to be ready to talk about it if you keep it bottled up inside you," Yuugi smiled, "and something tells me I'm the closest thing you're going to get since I already know you won't go to a counsellor or something like that."

Yami looked at him for a moment, contemplating whether or not to tell Yuugi what he'd been keeping inside for so long. What he'd been keeping from even Kumiko. Yuugi didn't seem like the person that would go ahead and spread rumours about him. So far he'd been the closest thing to a friend Yami had ever had, and would probably get too. Could he trust the other enough to tell something like this? Would Yuugi be so scared of Yoru after it that he wouldn't want to be around Yami anymore? God these questions were driving him nuts. Well, only one way to get an answer ne?

"He… killed my mother." Yami's eyes clenched and he held back the tears that wanted to come out. He'd finally said it out loud, and damn it only made it more real. Of course he'd always known it was true – he'd been there – but saying it out loud to someone just… made it too real.

Yuugi's eyes widened, "He… killed your mother…? But how…" Disbelief laced his voice and Yami's heart dropped. Yuugi didn't believe him, and would probably think he was crazy or something. He'd leave in a couple of minutes and would stay away from Yami now.

Yami was expecting Yuugi to get up and run, but the exact opposite happened. He felt Yuugi's arms wrap around him and pull him into a hug. Yami was shocked, but didn't pull away. The tears he'd been holding back came out, and he cried. The mask he always wore around everyone that showed confidence instead of how weak he really was burst, and the scared 17-year old he really was came out. He leaned into Yuugi's chest, and continued to cry as Yuugi just stroked his hair, whispering sweet nonsense to try and soothe him as much as possible.

After fifteen minutes Yami finally calmed down, but didn't move out of Yuugi's arms. He actually felt safe here, and that was a feeling he hadn't had for a very long time.

He let out a shaky breath before he started to talk again. He told about all the beatings he could remember, and that his first memory was actually one of those beatings. About the night his mother was killed, and that he'd watched it all. About only nimbly escaping death that night as well, and about his promise to Kumiko.

Yuugi stayed quiet during the entire story, and just kept holding Yami. He knew this was hard for the other, but it was the only way for him to get over it. Keeping it inside would only make it worse in the long run.

Yami finally stopped when he got to the present which Yuugi already knew. He had to admit that he felt a bit better now that he'd finally told someone, but he was still half scared of Yuugi's reaction. The other had listened to him the entire time, but how would he react now?

Yuugi pulled away from Yami and the older immediately panicked. Yuugi was going to leave him now, he just knew it.

"Don't worry; I'm not going anywhere, Yami-kun." Slowly Yami looked up into concerned amethyst eyes. "I'm not going to run out of the house to tell the entire town what happened just to make a fool out of you." He smiled gently at Yami.

Yami's eyes showed doubt for a second, before he let go of Yuugi's shirt. He hadn't even realized he'd been holding it in a death grip to prevent Yuugi from going away. He slowly sat up, keeping a close eye on Yuugi still.

"I know you're not going to trust me on this for a while, " Yuugi started, "but I'm really not going to leave you for something like this. I want to help."

Yami nodded slowly, but his eyes still didn't leave Yuugi. After eight years of having only Kumiko as company and telling himself over and over that he didn't need anyone else, his own lie had finally broken and he didn't want to be alone anymore. He had Kumiko of course, but he couldn't talk to her really, as she was only 9.

Yuugi threw a quick glance at the clock and then out of the window to see that it was dark. Well that was no wonder as it was already 10 o'clock. He hesitated for a second. If he'd go home Yami would freak. The other was in no state to be alone right now. On the other hand, could he just stay here? Wouldn't Yoru get mad about it? The man hadn't exactly acknowledged his presence and he actually doubted the other knew he was in the house, but he didn't want to get Yami into more trouble.

"Yami… it's getting late and… Uhm…" Yuugi looked back at the other to see panic already flashing through the crimson depths, and he knew he could never leave the other alone right now. Yami would probably be a bit more himself – the real him hopefully – tomorrow, but right now he was still too broken.

Yuugi sighed and smiled again, "Want me to stay over?"

Yami's face lit up with hope, "Would you mind…?"

Yuugi shook his head, "I wouldn't have offered if I did," he yawned and rubbed his eyes. Spending the entire day with a hyperactive 9-year old was tiresome if you weren't used to it.

Yami chuckled, a spark of his normal confident self shining in his eyes again, "I don't think you'd get home anyway."

Yuugi yawned again, "Probably not, no."

Yami paused for a second and rubbed the back on his head sheepishly, "I'm not really used to people sleeping over so I don't really have a second bed…" he trailed off, figuring Yuugi would get his point by now.

Yuugi blushed slightly, very much remembering the position he and Yami had woken up in that morning. Yami might have a king-sized bed, but he had a feeling that they'd be waking up in a similar position if he slept in the same bed as Yami.

Not that he had really _minded_ waking up like that.

Yuugi shook his head to get rid of that thought; this was not the time for that. He looked back up at Yami who was looking at him questioningly, "Well let's see how we wake up tomorrow morning then huh?" he giggled nervously as his blush deepened slightly.

Yami blushed as well, though you could hardly see it through his tan. "Uh, yeah. Still sorry about that."

Yuugi shook his head, "Neither of us could really do anything about that since we were asleep and all." He let out another yawn, and dropped to the bed.

Yami smiled at the other, feeling a bit more comfortable now that he knew Yuugi really wasn't leaving him, or going to mock him. Yuugi actually believed him. "You can sleep in one of my shirts if you want to." He slowly got off the bed and walked to his closet to fish out a shirt that Yuugi could wear.

"Thank you, Yami-kun." Yuugi walked to the closet as well and took the shirt Yami was holding out for him.

"I should really be thanking you," Yami looked at the ground, another sad look crossing his face, "you're the first one that's even tried to befriend me. Most people stay away from me as far as they can."

"Well as far as I heard at school, you do try to keep everyone out of you life and everything, so I'm not really surprised by that."

Yami smiled sadly at the boy next to him, "The less people I care about, the less people that can hurt me." He sighed before walking back to the bed and grabbing his own shirt, before quickly changing his clothes so Yuugi wouldn't see too much of the bruises. Yuugi saw enough though, and flinched at the sight. Yami's body was covered in fresh and old marks, even some cuts that were still healing.

"Don't," Yuugi closed his mouth again. He'd wanted to say something about it, but it seemed Yami had gotten eyes in the back of his head. The other turned around after changing, "I'm done talking about it for today."

Yuugi nodded and they both got into the bed again. Yuugi almost immediately fell asleep, but Yami watched him for a bit longer, wondering how the hell this boy had managed to get into his heart so fast. He'd always told himself that he should keep everyone but Kumiko out of his heart, but Yuugi had managed to get to him in only two days.

Yami sighed as he closed his eyes as well and drifted off into the world of the sleeping.

* * *

The sound of an alarm clock made both boys groan the next morning. Neither wanted to get up yet, but both knew they had school today, and someone had to kill the alarm clock so it'd stop buzzing. 

Yuugi was far too content to bother with the alarm clock. His back was pressed against something nice and warm and something was holding him close to whatever that warm thing behind him was.

Wait a second, something that was holding him? Yuugi's eyes shot open and he glanced behind him to see Yami there, the other's arms wrapped around his waist once more and this time pressed again his back. Yuugi let his head fall back onto the pillow; body heat could be so annoying since people were always drawn to it in their sleep.

Yami, in the mean time, was getting really annoyed by the damned buzzing, and opened his eyes in annoyance, muttering something about a conspiracy of alarm clock against him in his still sleepy state. Yuugi couldn't help but laugh at that. He could just see an army of alarm clocks going after Yami while he was trying to sleep.

Yami glanced down as he heard the giggle, and blinked as he saw Yuugi. He remembered what had happened yesterday, and grimaced; damn, so that hadn't been a dream, huh.

"Morning to you too, sleeping beauty." Yuugi joked as he noticed the grimace.

Yami chuckled, "Well if I'm sleeping beauty I'm not supposed to be awake yet since I haven't been kissed yet." He pouted playfully before ignoring the still buzzing alarm clock and laying his head back down on the pillow. He hadn't even noticed that he was once again holding Yuugi.

Yuugi sighed and giggled, "Well I'd go look for your princess but you'll have to let go for that first."

Yami blinked and only then noticed that his arms were around Yuugi in a rather possessive hold. "Uhm… oops?" he quickly let go and Yuugi shifted off the bed.

"Now let's see if I can find you a prince or princess." Yuugi grinned as he exited the room. Yami frowned slightly, wondering what Yuugi was planning.

After about a minute he heard giggling coming from the other side of the door. Not only Yuugi's giggles, but a female one as well. _'Kumiko?'_ Yami wondered as the door opened to reveal the two.

"I found you a princess that wants to wake you up." Kumiko happily skipped over to Yami's bed and sat down next to him, laughing at the confused yet amused look on her brother's face.

"This? This is no princess, Yuugi-kun. This is my little angel." Yami pulled Kumiko into a hug and the girl laughed even more.

"Well I'm still gonna kiss you awake, Mi-chan!" Kumiko quickly turned to him and pecked him on his cheek, "There, now you have to get up and go to school!"

Yami pouted, "But I'm comfy." The look that passed between Kumiko and Yuugi at that moment could only be described as evil. Yami briefly wondered how two normally so innocent looking people could look so evil right now, but he didn't get enough time to think about it as Yuugi ran over to the bed and both Kumiko and he started to tickle Yami.

Yami had tears in his eyes of laughter by the time he surrendered and promised to get out of bed. Kumiko and Yuugi high-fived and grinned at the now sulking Yami.

"Cheaters." Kumiko and Yuugi just looked innocently; something they were very good at. Yami groaned as he shoed Kumiko out of the room to get ready for school herself. The real reason was of course that he didn't want her to see the bruises, but the excuse worked anyway.

Yuugi giggled as Yami fell back to the bed in an overdramatic defeated way, almost as if he was dying, "No no no no no, you have to get up now sleeping beauty, your princess kissed you."

Yami smiled as Yuugi walked over and sat on the edge of the bed again, "But who says it's a princess I'm after?" The blush on Yuugi's face was about as undeniable as the leer shot Yuugi's way. Yami just laughed and Yuugi turned even redder.

"We uhm… should get dressed and all because uhm… we still have to go my place to get my school stuff?" It really wasn't a statement but a more like a question to himself if his excuse was any good. For a brief moment Yami wondered if what he'd said had upset Yuugi in any manner, but then pushed it away again; it was a joke nothing more.

Right?

Right.

Yami shook his head to get rid of the thoughts currently running through it. Yuugi was cute, nice, and the only person he considered a real friend at the moment, but that was all the other was, a friend.

Right.

"Yami-kun?" Yami snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the still blushing Yuugi, and smiled.

"Yeah, let's get dressed first though since I don't think school is going to let us in like this." Yami grinned and finally got out of bed. Yuugi pushed the last of his blush down and smiled too.

"Well my school uniform is at my place too so we really need to go there before going to school." Yami nodded and both quickly changed, Yami into his school uniform and Yuugi into the clothes he'd been wearing the previous day.

They met Kumiko downstairs and quickly ate breakfast, before heading to Yuugi's house. Kumiko skipped ahead of the two boys while singing merrily to herself, still glad that her brother now had someone else besides her as well. It seemed Yuugi was a very nice person and he could actually make Yami laugh. As if to prove her current thought, she heard Yami laugh softly about something Yuugi had said or done, and the smile already on her face brightened even more.

They quickly reached Yuugi's place and Kumiko looked around curiously as Yuugi changed. Yami was sitting on the couch, deep in thought for some reason. Kumiko cocked her head to one side cutely and walked over to her brother.

"Mi-chan? What's wrong?" She watched as Yami snapped out of his thoughts a bit startled, and giggled before sitting down in his lap and snuggling close to him.

"Nothing's wrong, Tenshi. I was just thinking." Kumiko looked up at him curiously. Yami wasn't one to zone out around her, or think too much about stuff. He usually didn't have to think that hard to figure something out anyway.

"About what?" She tugged on his sleeve as he averted his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at her, a look of thoughtfulness once more on his face. She briefly followed his gaze to see he was looked at the door Yuugi'd gone through earlier. "Are you thinking about Yuugi-san? You're not planning on pushing him away too, are you? He's nice and you like him right?! You shouldn't push him away!" A look of sadness crossed her face.

Yami smiled and hugged her a bit tighter, "No, Tenshi… quite the opposite actually…" he sighed as he glanced down at his sister again, before shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts going through it and smiling. Before he could say anything else, he heard footsteps on the stairs.

"You two really look cute like that." Both siblings turned to see a smiling Yuugi walking towards him, now wearing the Domino High school uniform and his book bag. Yami chuckled as Kumiko snuggled even closer to him with a bright smile once again on her face. Yami's words had obviously calmed her down already.

"Ready to go?" Yuugi nodded and Yami gently pushed Kumiko off his lap. The girl pouted for a second, before quickly going after the two boys who had already started to walk. Before long they reached the school, Yuugi and Yami talking again as Kumiko skipped next to her brother, listening happily to the conversation.

As soon as they entered the schoolyard, some people glanced at the three and whispers were once again heard. Yami's eye twitched, even more since the people whispering seemed have increased. The twitch stopped and his eyes widened however, as soon as he caught some of the words being said as they walked to the normal Sakura tree Kumiko and he always sat below.

"I saw Atemu-san and Mutou-san… club… drinking… … … date?"

* * *

**There, I refuse to call this a real cliffhanger, so now you should all go love me again. Please R&R!**

**PS: Merry christmas everyone! Hope you all have a great time.**


	6. Chapter 05: Bad luck?

**Well the ff alerst are once again down… man that happens a lot lately °sweatdrops° Well, hope this still goes to everyone that has me on alert some time this week. For those reading, have fun! **

* * *

**--: 05 :--  
Bad Luck? **

_'I can't fucking believe this. I go out _one_ time and people think I'm dating Yuugi-kun. Why can't they all just stay out of _my_ business?'_ Yami mentally growled as he felt eyes once again fall on him. He was in his second period by now – chemistry – and everybody was still whispering about him. Apparently someone from school had seen him and Yuugi at the club on Saturday, and everyone just assumed Yuugi and he were dating. Yami's eye twitched. People really did draw conclusions too fast.

"Yami-kun, you'll crush the table like that." Yami looked beside him to see Yuugi's amused face. He let out a sigh as his grip on the table lessened considerably, though he refused to let go; he had to vent his frustration somehow ne?

"They're annoying me." Yami muttered softly, glancing into the classroom briefly to throw glares at whoever was looking at him. Many gazes shifted away immediately, and Yami mentally smirked.

Yuugi glanced into the classroom uncomfortably as well. He wasn't used to getting this much attention, or having rumors spread about him. He was usually more the invisible type that you just didn't see unless you were looking for him, and that suited him just fine except for the fact that bullies loved those types around here.

"Well… they just don't have lives of their own." Yuugi giggled nervously and Yami chuckled, smirking at the boy sitting next to him, before shifting his gaze back to the teacher that was trying to explain something. Keyword: trying. Nobody was really paying a lot of attention to the man trying so hard to prepare them for their exams. The man's voice could put even a hyperactive 5-year old to sleep, and the material he was currently _trying_ to explain was beyond boring. In short, half of the class had fallen asleep, the other half was doing something else.

"How long do you think he'll go on before he notices that no one is paying attention?" Yami glanced at Yuugi as the other shrugged, glancing at the clock for the umpteenth time that class.

"I don't know, but we only have him for about five minutes more so it doesn't really matter." Yuugi sighed and rested his head on his hands.

"Uhm… actually…" Yami grinned sheepishly at him, "there were some changes and we have him for another hour."

Yuugi groaned and had to resist the urge to bang his head on the table. This could _not_ be happening. "Remind me to bring a pillow next time," he muttered softly.

Yami chuckled and both waited for the first bell to ring, signaling their second period's end and sadly enough, another hour of chemistry. Both vaguely wondered why the changes had been made, until the teacher started to write things down for a practical about the material he'd just discussed. Both boys gulped; neither had paid _any_ attention.

"So it would be best if we joined someone who actually paid attention right?" Yuugi glanced at Yami who just blankly nodded.

"Though no one paid attention I think… and I don't feel like working together with anyone but you really." Yami looked back to see a light blush appear on Yuugi's cheeks. Damn Yuugi looked cute like that… and damn why was he thinking that?! Yami shook his head; he was just going nuts.

"Yami-kun?" Yami looked up and smiled at the still slightly blushing Yuugi who was looking at him questioningly.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked if we should work together then?" Yuugi glanced around to see everyone else in the classroom staring at the blackboard just as blankly as they had, "Since no one else seems to know what to do anyway and all…" Yuugi looked down at the desk, his blush increasing in power. Yami couldn't help but smile and once again note how cute Yuugi really looked like this. Damnit, so he really was falling for the other.

This of course, opened up a new problem. If he really did admit to liking Yuugi _that_ way, it would mean he was either gay, or bi… which opened a chapter to his life he really hadn't thought about before. Dating hadn't exactly been on his mind, and he'd never had any interest in girls before – which right now only made him think more that he was gay, not bi – so this was a bit of a start.

Yami pushed the thoughts away for now, as Yuugi was still looking at him adorably, but slightly confused. "Yeah, sure Yuugi-kun. You're the best choice here anyway." Yami winked which only made Yuugi's blush deepen further. Okay, so now he was flirting too? Mental sigh. Okay, so he really did like Yuugi _that_ way. Fine, he accepted it.

"I-I'll go get everything." Yuugi hurried away as Yami stared after him. He blinked at how fast Yuugi could be if he really wanted, and smiled slightly. Well if he was going to fall head over heals in love with Yuugi at one point – which he was probably going to be if this continued – he might as well try and find out if Yuugi even liked guys, and if so liked him. So far the blushing and all said yes to both questions, but Yuugi could just be shy and easily embarrassed for all he knew.

Yuugi came back minutes later with a heater and all the other stuff they would need. Of course since no one in the class had been paying attention the previous hour, everyone screwed up during the practical. The teacher was furious; Yuugi and Yami were having fun and laughing. This annoyed the teacher even more.

"Mutou-san and Atemu-san! What is so funny about this situation?!" Yuugi tried to hide his giggles, and was failing miserably. Yami tried not to roll his eyes at the exasperated teacher in front of him, and only barely succeeded. Since he was the only one really capable of answering the question right now, he was the one to answer, "Nothing sensei." He really had to keep the annoyance from his voice. Yuugi and he had just been having some fun and the teacher was screwing it up right now.

"Well then why are you laughing?!" Yes, the teacher was getting angry, and the rest of the class was snickering because of it. It seemed since Yuugi had become Yami's friend, the tri-colour haired teen had become a lot more fun.

Yuugi had calmed himself down by now, and bowed respectfully, "We're sorry, Sensei. It won't happen again."

"Detention for the both of you! As for the rest of you," he focused back on the class, "get to work!" He walked back to his desk in a bad mood.

Yami and Yuugi blinked, before looking at each other. Detention? For laughing? That man needed to get laid.

The rest of the class stopped snickering for the most part, though you could still hear some of them trying to only hide it as they hadn't completely stopped.

At the end of the class, the teacher was so angry since not a single student had gotten the practical right he gave them loads of homework. The class groaned, but quickly left the classroom so they wouldn't get punished any more. The teacher reminded Yami and Yuugi that they had to come to him after school, and the two groaned again. Another hour with this guy? Great, _just_ great.

School went by relatively quiet for the rest of the day. Of course there were more than enough rumours about the two, and Yuugi had to stop Yami from strangling a group of gossiping teens multiple times, but that was it really. Detention was boring. The teacher stayed with them so talking was out of the question. Of course it did give Yami a good chance to think about everything, only to come up with the same conclusions as he had during chemistry. Yuugi seemed to be bored out of his wits, and was doodling on his paper absentmindedly. As Yami sneaked a glance at the drawing, he frowned as he saw a group of teens looking no older than he, only as angels. He pushed it aside as unimportant.

As soon as the bell rang to signal their freedom, Yami and Yuugi grabbed their stuff, and without waiting for the teacher to say something ran out of the classroom. The teacher would probably be mad because of that, but they didn't feel like getting a speech about responsibility right now; they wanted to get out of the school building as fast as they could.

"Oh God that was boring." Yami ran a hand through his hair while sighing. He looked Yuugi to see the other nod while suppressing a yawn.

"Yeah, I almost fell asleep there." He grinned sheepishly, "At least we got away now ne?"

"True, and not a moment too soon because I was about to fall asleep too." Every other thing he would've wanted to say was cut off by someone racing towards and tackling him.

"Mi-chan! You're late!" Kumiko hugged her brother tightly, burying her face in his chest and pouting even though you couldn't see it. Yuugi smiled at the sight in front of him; a sight not many got to see. Yami was hugging Kumiko back and smiling at her tenderly, lovingly.

"I got detention, Tenshi. I tried to tell you during lunch but you were so hyper that you wouldn't listen." Kumiko looked up and the pout on her face only increased.

"I was still worried." Both teens smiled at her, and Yuugi helped Yami up. Kumiko's mood immediately changed and the bright smile that was usually on her face appeared again.

"Let's go to the park together!" She grabbed Yami and Yuugi's hands tightly and tried to drag them in the direction of the park. Yami chuckled and pulled her back into his arms.

"I think you should ask if Yuugi-kun wants to come with us first, Tenshi."

Kumiko blinked, before turning to Yuugi with pleading puppy-dog eyes. "Will you please come? Mi-chan and me always go for a walk through the park after school." Her gaze turned even more pleading, and Yuugi couldn't help but give in immediately.

"Sure, why not." Kumiko cheered and proceeded to drag the two of them to the park. Both just smiled and let her, knowing there was no stopping a hyperactive girl like Kumiko at a time like this.

_'Besides,'_ Yami thought, _'I can spend more time with Yuugi-kun like this.'_

As the park came into sight, Kumiko let go of Yami and Yuugi's hands, and raced towards the gate. She quickly crossed the road without really checking for cars – lucky for her that there weren't any – and didn't stop until she was under the gate. There she turned around with a bright smile and called for them to hurry up.

Yami let out a sigh. "How many times have I told her to look for cars when she's crossing the road! She's going to get herself killed one of these days."

Yuugi giggled, "Well nothing happened so don't worry." He looked both ways before crossing the street himself.

As they talked, a car raced around the corner at top speed, heading straight for them. Yami's eyes widened in shock and quickly grabbed Yuugi's hand, before pulling him to the side as fast as he could. The car only barely missed them as they fell to the ground, Yuugi safely wrapped in Yami's arms. The only thing the car did was honk as if the driver was annoyed at almost having to stop. Yami glared as he tightened his grip.

"Mi-chan!" Kumiko quickly ran up to them and kneeled down, a worried and scared look in her eyes.

"I-it's okay, Kumiko-chan." Yuugi's heart was beating fast in his chest as he stared after the car. That would've killed them if Yami hadn't had such good reflexes, or it would've at least send them into the hospital. He subconsciously leaned into Yami's chest more.

"If I ever get my hands on-" the rest of the sentence was muttered under Yami's breath. He turned back to the two and looked down at Yuugi in his arms. "Are you okay?"

Yuugi slowly nodded, pulling away from Yami slightly, "I think so." He looked over at Yami to see that his jeans had ripped on his knee, "Are you?"

"Yeah, I've had worse…" Yami shook his head to get rid of the thoughts revolving around his father and let go of Yuugi slowly, before getting up and frowning at the torn fabric of his pants. "Damn that driver." Again the rest of the sentence was muttered under his breath.

Yuugi smiled as Yami glared in the direction of the car again, before grabbing his arms and dragging him towards the park, "Come on, Yami-kun. We can't do anything about the driver so just forget it."

"Yeah, Mi-chan," Kumiko took Yami's other hand to help Yuugi. Her smile returned to her face and she giggled as she saw the pout on her brother's face. "Don't be such a baby."

The pout on Yami's face only increased more as he let the two of them drag him along. He could free himself, but he knew Kumiko would just give him the 'puppy-dog eyes' and he'd cave, so why bother? Well, that and Yuugi was holding his hand too.

They spend the next couple of hours walking around the park, laughing about complete nonsense – together with some flirting from Yami side which of course made Yuugi blush like mad - and having fun all the way. Only when the clock sounded five times did they start to go back, Yuugi deciding that he'd go with them. Of course Yami knew this was just because Yuugi wanted to make sure he'd be okay, but he couldn't really tell Yuugi not to worry with Kumiko around.

Besides, it seemed Kumiko really liked Yuugi, so who was he to deny his little sister?

They reached the house more than on time this time, but Yuugi still went inside to be on the safe side. Yami tried to send Yuugi away without Kumiko noticing he was desperate not to let Yuugi witness another beating – he was sure his father would find a new reason to punish him – but nothing worked and Yuugi came in. Yami sighed and gave him a desperate look as a last attempt to send him away, and Yuugi let out a sigh of his own.

"Okay, I guess I do have to go home anyway," he glanced at the relieved look on Yami's face, and the disappointed look on Kumiko's for a second, before stepping closer to Yami, "Don't make me regret this, Yami-kun." There was a desperate note to his voice and Yami nodded, though he was sure he wouldn't be able to keep that promise.

Yuugi left, and Yami and Kumiko went into the living room. Yami was relieved to see that his father hadn't come back from work, and the answering machine had one message stating that Yoru wouldn't be home until late that night. Yami grinned happily and quickly made something to eat for the both of them. Kumiko blinked at the good mood her brother was suddenly in, but just smiled since she loved it when Yami was happy. They spend the entire evening just lounging on the couch, watching TV and eating snacks.

Yoru didn't come home until 10 o'clock, and Kumiko had already gone to bed by then. Yami quickly went to his room so he wouldn't get into trouble – his father was in a very bad mood as usual when he'd had to work late – and flopped down on the bed, just staring at the ceiling without really thinking of anything.

His cell phone ringing interrupted his staring into nothingness and Yami quickly grabbed the mobile phone, knowing only Yuugi would call him, the number flashing on the screen only confirming that.

"Can't go without me already, Yuugi-kun?" he purred into the phone. The reply he got was definitely something different from what he'd expected.

-"Y-Yami-kun?"- Yuugi sounded close to tears, if not crying already. Yami's eyes widened and he immediately went serious.

"Yuugi-kun? What's wrong? What happened?"

-"It's m-my house…"- a brief pause as Yami heard a shaky breath, as if Yuugi was trying to calm himself and failing miserably, -"it's on fire."-

* * *

**So… uhm… yeah… Let's just ignore the half-cliffhanger and the fact that I just lit Yuugi's house on fire… yeah, let's all just ignore that and give me nice reviews! **

**everything stays silent **

**I'm so dead, aren't I? Well, I'm off to enjoy my last few minutes of life, maybe see you next week! If I survive anyway °sweatdrop°**


	7. Chapter 06: Reminder

**Okay... not that many death threats... and I'm still alive... and I'd just love to say that I'm probbly save now... but with everything I've got, NO way am I save. I'll go hide for the rest of the story now, so BYE! °runs°**  
**

* * *

**

**--: 06 :--  
Reminder**

"Yuugi-kun!" Yami rushed over to the trembling and silently crying form of his friend and hugged him tightly. Yuugi immediately leaned into the touch and sobbed into Yami's chest, hugging him back for his dear life. Behind them fireman were trying to put out the fire that was still raging in the apartment complex.

As soon as Yuugi had said that his house was on fire, Yami had run out of his own house towards Yuugi's, ignoring his father's protests. The few blocks he'd always found to be nothing suddenly seemed a lot, and the only thing he wanted was to be with Yuugi.

"Shh, it's okay, Yuugi-kun. I'm here now." Yami rocked Yuugi back and forth a little to calm the younger. Slowly Yuugi calmed down, but he kept his face buried in Yami's chest, refusing to let go of the other. Not that Yami minded really. "What happened?"

Yuugi sniffled a little, before pulling away slightly so he could look at Yami and speak, "I don't know. I was watching some TV and suddenly the fire alarm went off. I ran out of the house just in time." He buried his face in Yami's chest again, tears once more streaming down his face. Yami rocked the boy again as he looked at the flames burning the complex. It seemed this wasn't Yuugi's day. First the car, and now this.

"Did you take anything from the house?" Yami asked, pulling away so he could look at Yuugi. The other boy just shook his head, staring at the ground in sadness as he thought of everything he'd lost. Yami sighed and smiled wryly. "Well come on then, you can't stay here ne?"

Yuugi looked up at him questioningly, "What? Where?" His mind was obviously not comprehending a lot at the moment.

"To my house of course, or do you want to sleep on the street? You can just sleep with me again since we've half made that a tradition." Yami chuckled as a blush made its way onto Yuugi's face.

"Yeah, and the way we wake up…" Yuugi's blush deepened, Yami smirked even more.

"Come on, you don't really have anywhere else to go ne?"

"No… I guess not." Yuugi smiled and nodded as Yami pulled him away from the fire and towards his house, trying his best to distract Yuugi by talking about something he and Kumiko had seen that evening. Yuugi appreciated the attempt even though it didn't work, so he just tried to seem a bit happier.

As the entered Yami's home, Yoru stormed up to the door angrily, his eyes flashing dangerously. Yami's own eyes widened as he pressed himself against the wall, his eyes already showing fear for the man in front of him.

"Where did you go?!" Yoru demanded, a look in his eyes that said that if Yami lied, there'd be a whole lot of pain following.

"Y-Yuugi-kun's house is on fire so I went to pick him up." Yami pressed himself even closer to the wall, closing his eyes in anticipation of the blow surely to follow.

Yoru glanced to the side where a shocked Yuugi was standing, though a bit of anger towards the older could also be seen in the amethyst eyes. "This pipsqueak here? Who cares. He should've just burned with the rest of the house; one less person to populate this world." He turned back to Yami with a smirk, though the look of complete anger on his son's face surprised him.

"No one says that about Yuugi-kun." Yami hissed, and without warning his hand lashed out and made a very visible print on Yoru's cheek. The older man was so shocked by the sudden reaction that he was too stunned to do anything. Yami quickly grabbed Yuugi's hand and pulled him away and to his room, locking it behind him as soon as they entered so Yoru couldn't come after them. Only then did he realize what he had just done. He froze.

"Fuck… I just hit him…" His eyes widened and he stared at the door fearfully. This was not good.

Yuugi put a reassuring hand on Yami's shoulder, "The door's locked so he can't get in. Relax, Yami-kun."

"He might not be able to come in now but I can't stay in my room forever! He'll be mad when he sees me!" Yami was panicking, pacing around the room, and rambling to himself. Yuugi looked at him worriedly as this went on for a little while, until he decided that enough was enough.

"Yami-kun!" No response. Yuugi sighed and shook his head, before stepping closer and slapping Yami across the face. Yami stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the boy in front of him in shock.

"You were rambling, panicking, and pacing. That's not good, so stop it and relax." Yuugi said calmly, pushing Yami towards the bed and making the other sit down. Yami reluctantly did as he was told and lay down, Yuugi sitting down next to him.

"He's going to kill me, you know." Yami's eyes showed a lot of fear, and Yuugi hated to see it. Yami's eyes were usually filled with a passionate fire, confidence, life. Now despair was clearly visible.

"He's not going to kill you. He'll forget all about it tomorrow, and you won't have to go out of your room tonight since it's already late." Yami glanced at the clock to see that it was already 11 o'clock. He blinked; time had gone very fast.

He sighed, "He's still going to be mad…"

Yuugi rolled his eyes, "Well just go sleep; it won't matter until tomorrow anyway."

Yami slowly nodded, getting out of bed to get Yuugi some stuff to sleep in again. He frowned as he thought of the fact that Yuugi had lost all of his clothes and school books as well, and then slightly smirked at the thought that Yuug would have to wear his clothes for a while… and that meant that he could make Yuugi wear practically anything. Did he mention he had a lot of leather?

Both quickly changed and got into bed, at first each laying on one side. Yami shivered as he crawled deeper into the blankets, trying to get warmer; it seemed it would be a cold night. Well, it was winter after all.

He suddenly felt Yuugi shifting closer hesitantly, and opened his eyes to see doubting amethyst eyes looking at him, "Yuugi-kun?"

"I, uhm… I'm kind of cold so… uhm…" Yuugi trailed off and stared at the blanket. Yami smiled and pulled Yuugi close to him, letting Yuugi's head rest on his chest.

"Well I guess we'll be waking up like this anyway. Especially since it's so cold." Even though he couldn't see it, he knew Yuugi was blushing like crazy again. He chuckled and wrapped his arms around the smaller teen and nuzzled his face into Yuugi's hair, sighing contently.

Yuugi leaned into Yami completely, his blush not leaving but feeling very safe and warm in Yami's arms. Both fell asleep slowly, not bothered by the cold any longer.

* * *

"You failed, and twice at that." The two demons kneeling in front of their overlord shivered at the cold tone their ruler was using. They gulped as Aknunkanon approached them, fearing the punishment that was sure to follow. 

"We're sorry, your highness. It's hard to kill without it seeming suspicious and we're not used to it." A slap across the demon's face stopped any further explanation, as dark crimson eyes glared down at him.

"Nonsense. He's just as bound to mortal ways as you are; you should be able to kill him easily. The longer Yuugi remains with Yami, the more he'll infiltrate into Yami's heart. And that would mean that all the hard work of the past 8 years would be in vain!" Aknunkanon's glare intensified, the demons shivering even though they couldn't see it. They could make up excuses all they waned, but it wouldn't stop their ruler from punishing them.

Overlord Aknunkanon had ordered his demons to take out Mutou Yuugi, the boy that was messing up with his plans. Ever since one of his demons had reported that Yami had become _friends_ with someone named Mutou Yuugi, he'd been enraged. If Yami started to trust mankind again, his plans would fail and Yami would never become his. The only solution in his opinion was to kill this Yuugi. If that were to happen, Yami would bounce back into the shell he'd built up over the years, blocking out everyone even more than he had before, and there would be no one to gain Yami's trust ever again.

It was just too bad that his demons were having some problems accomplishing their task. Since Aknunkanon didn't want to raise any suspicion, he had ordered his demon to take Yuugi out in a mortal way. His demons had been frustrated since they had never done such a thing before, but Aknunkanon was set on not raising any suspicion.

The first attempt had been to run Yuugi over with a car. Aknunkanon had followed the scene from the top of a high building so he wouldn't get spotted. Yami had pulled Yuugi out of the way just in time, though Aknunkanon had to admit that he was glad this attempt had failed. Yami could've been hit too, not just Yuugi.

The second attempt had been to light Yuugi's apartment on fire. This attempt had almost worked. Yuugi had been dozing off on the couch and the fire had started somewhere near the door. The hallway had been completely on fire by the time Yuugi had noticed that something was wrong, and it had been too late to escape by then. It was just too bad that there were more than enough windows in the apartment, and even though it was on the second floor there were also enough trees to jump to and climb down from. Aknunkanon had observed the small teen as he first panicked, but then quickly and rationally thought of a way to get out of the situation.

Aknunkanon growled at the thought. This boy was a quick thinker when it came to life-threatening situations, and that would keep him alive for a lot of other murder attempts too. It annoyed Aknunkanon to no end.

"You failed in your mission, therefore you shall be punished." Aknunkanon needed to get rid of his anger, and the easiest way in his case was by beating someone up, and preferably killing them. The two demons needed punishment, so he'd simply use them.

Both demons looked at each other in a desperate manner, knowing they were doomed and there was nothing they could about it. Aknunkanon smirked, smelling the fear coming off the two in front of him. Oh how he loved the smell of fear.

"Report to my chambers in an hour, I have some other business to finish first." Aknunkanon's smirk widened as he watched the two scramble out of the throne room hastily, as if leaving would save them from their fate. Too bad nothing could get them out of this, and Aknunkanon's eyes shone with something that was probably happiness to him, though cruelty was probably a better word for it.

He spread his wings and quickly flew out of the palace, and onto the mortal plane. He made his way to Yami's house and watched as Yuugi and Yami fell asleep together, in each other's arms. Aknunkanon's eyes narrowed in suppressed anger, and he had to pull on all of his restrains not to burst into the room and kill the smaller teen himself. The only thing holding him back was Yami, so the brat was lucky, for now.

Aknunkanon flew into the living room, passing through the window without breaking it. He saw Yoru glance up from the TV in a bored manner, and then raising an eyebrow as he recognized the person – or more like demon – standing next to the couch.

"Well, well, well, what brings the great overlord of demons to my humble household?"

Aknunkanon snorted, "I'd hardly call this humble, after all the money you earned because of our deal you have got quite the house. But that is not why I'm here. You do realize that your part of the deal is being endangered by some kid, don't you?"

Yoru glared, "I know, but I can't get Yami away from the squirt. I hoped the pipsqueak would just stay away from Yami if I showed him what I usually do when Yami does something wrong, but the kid just won't leave! Yami actually _punched _me today because I insulted the brat!" Yoru's temper was flaring, and his anger had returned. He had only just relaxed and calmed down, knowing that going after Yami at this point was useless since the other's door would be locked, but now the stinging sensation in his cheek seemed to be all the more intense.

"You won't scare the brat off; he's a special kind of brat, which is what concerns me the most." At Yoru's confused look Aknunkanon rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter what I mean, all that matters is that you get the kid away from Yami or your end of the deal won't be kept, and I won't get Yami in my clutches."

"You still haven't told me why you want the punk." Yoru gave the other a suspicious look, but Aknunkanon seemed unaffected, and didn't say a word. It was obvious that the demonic overlord wasn't going to reveal his plans or reasoning. Yoru mentally shrugged; he wasn't interested enough to push the matter. That, and since the other was a demon he could kill Yoru at any time he wanted.

"Fine then, don't tell me. And I will get rid of this kid. I don't feel like dying just yet."

"I'm sending demons after him too, though they will try and kill the brat the mortal way so as not to raise suspicion. If my plan fails, you won't just be dying, Yoru, you'll be suffering." Aknunkanon's eyes flashed dangerously, and his claws momentarily became sharper.

Yoru gulped, knowing full-well that the other could make that threat come true without a problem. He nodded slowly, not letting Aknunkanon out of his sight for even a split-second. If he was going to die, he'd go down fighting.

"Good, now that that's clear, I'll be leaving since I have two demons to punish for failing me." Aknunkanon spread his wings and passes through the window without breaking it again. Yoru stared after the other as he disappeared to the demonic underworld where he belonged.

Yoru's eye twitched. God how he hated that demon. The other couldn't kill him of course, but hurting and torturing was a whole other deal. Yoru hated it when the demonic ruler came over just to threaten him and remind him of the deal. Like Yoru didn't know that he still had to keep his end of the deal! He'd die if he didn't so he really wouldn't forget something like that.

Slowly he walked over to the dresser and opened one of the drawers with the key that hung around his neck. In the drawer were things he'd gotten from the demons to help him keep an eye on Yami even if the brat wasn't there.

Yoru reached for a black orb inside and held it in the palm of his hand. "Yami," he spoke clearly and purple smoke filled the glass orb, swirling inside as a scene started to appear.

He could see Yami's room slowly starting to come into focus, before the scene zoomed in on the king-sized bed to display two forms laying there. Yoru's eye twitched even more at seeing their position. Yami had Yuugi wrapped in his arms in a protective and slightly possessive manner, as Yuugi was snuggled into his chest. Both boys had content smiles on their faces and were sleeping soundly.

'_Damn, he really did get closer than I thought.'_ Yoru ran a hand through his hair as he studied the two closer. Since when was his son gay? And since when had he fallen in love with this bratty look-alike of his? Damn, he had to get rid of the kid and fast.

He watched for a few seconds longer, before putting the orb back in the drawer. As soon as it left his hand the purple swirling smoke faded the image of his son away, until the orb turned to black again. Yoru locked the drawer back up so no one could get into it.

He sat back down on the couch, staring at the TV but not really taking any of what was on it in. His mind wandered as he thought of ways to either push Yami and the look-alike apart himself, or make Yami distrustful of people again so he'd do it himself. His gaze drifted away from the screen and sundered to the hallway where the stairs were, as a sudden idea suddenly jumped into his mind.

'_Kumiko…'

* * *

_

** Okay, so now you people want to kill me cuz I'm threatening Kumiko. Yup, very glad I managed to hide °sweatdrops° Anyway, please review... even if you hate me now.**


	8. Chapter 07: Secrets

**Yo people! Thanx a lot for all the great reviews and good luck with the newest cliffhanger! ****°innocent look° R&R! **

* * *

**--: 07 :--  
Secrets **

Days passed by with Yuugi staying with Yami, as the older refused to let Yuugi live anywhere else. He simply said that Yuugi had lost everything he had, and didn't have the money to buy it all again. No matter how Yuugi protested, Yami wouldn't listen and insisted on Yuugi staying. After about a week the younger gave up, and simply let Yami have his way. Not only Yami was happy to have him around, but so was Kumiko. Yuugi had changed into something like a second brother to her, and she loved to play games with the both of them now.

Yami was happy for another reason of course. His life had always been lonely as Kumiko was much younger than he was, and she didn't have any interest in some of the stuff Yami liked yet. Of course the fact that Yuugi slept in Yami's room, in his bed, was a very big bonus as well. Yami used the excuse that he didn't want Yuugi to be alone with Yoru around, but that was of course only half of the truth.

School had supplied Yuugi with new books and uniforms without any problem, and the director knew Yuugi was staying with Yami now. Sadly enough everyone else at school knew this little fact too and the rumors had only gotten worse. Atemu Yami taking someone in? There just had to be something wrong with the teen.

Another sad note was that Anzu knew about Yuugi staying over at Yami as well, and she had only gotten more determined to make the younger's life a living hell. This only made Yami keep a closer eye on his crush, making sure not a bully could get to the other no matter what. This only added to the rumors of course, and Yuugi and Yami had been declared a couple even though both denied it.

Two weeks had gone by now and Yuugi and Yami were walking around Domino on Sunday, Kumiko close behind them. The two teens were talking about random stuff that had happened at school over the week – Yami complaining about all the rumors as Yuugi giggled at his antics – as Kumiko listened to them with a bright smile on her face, sometimes telling something of her own. The rumors hadn't gone unnoticed by her, and unlike most thought she wasn't actually as oblivious as she seemed. She could see the way her brother looked at Yuugi, and noticed every hidden glance Yuugi threw at Yami. Silently she wondered how long the two could keep denying a relationship they actually wanted to happen.

Well, if her brother and Yuugi weren't going to do anything, she'd just have to help a bit ne?

"Ne, Mi-chan?" She watched as Yami turned his head to look at her, signaling that she had his attention, "can we go ice-skating?"

Yami blinked in surprise at the sudden question, and briefly wondered where it had come from, but just pushed it aside. He glanced over at Yuugi to see the other shrugging, before smiling brightly back at him.

"Well I guess we can go ice-skating," he glanced at his watch to check the time, "if we go now we'll have more than enough time."

Kumiko cheered and hugged her brother, before looking over at Yuugi, cutely, cocking her head to the side, "You don't mind, do you Yuugi-kun?"

Kumiko had long since stopped calling Yuugi '–san', and started calling him '–kun'. Yuugi only found her more cute for it, and didn't mind at all. "Of course not, Kumiko-chan. I love ice-skating."

Kumiko's eyes brightened even more and she cheered again, skipping ahead of them towards the building where the ice-rink was, all the way calling for the two teens behind her to go faster.

Yami and Yuugi both smiled at the girl, speeding up a little to keep up with the hyperactive pre-teen. "She really is too cute to deny anything, huh?" Yuugi chuckled as he heard Kumiko call out for them to speed up again, as the building was already in sight.

"Especially not when she uses those 'puppy-dog' eyes of hers," Yami threw a mock glare in Yuugi's direction, "though I believe you know that very well, huh Aibou?"

Over the two weeks Yami had started to call Yuugi 'Aibou', since they always worked together in projects. The first time he had used it, it had been totally unaware of the double meaning to the word, but after seeing Yuugi blush he thought about it, and now he used it on purpose. He loved the way Yuugi blushed every time he used the nickname.

And of course Yuugi blushed as usual, though Yami swore it was getting less. He'd have to think of a new way to make his little one blush then, now wouldn't he?

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Yuugi looked away, trying his best to look as innocent as possible. It was just too bad it was failing him for once.

Yami just chuckled at the teen beside him, before looking in front of him as they entered the building with the ice-rink, Kumiko already bouncing up and down near the skate-rental booth. Both Yuugi and Yami came over to her and quickly rented the skates, before each taking one of her hands and stepping onto the ice.

Kumiko giggled as she glided over the ice while being held up by her brother and Yuugi. She almost slipped a couple of times, but was always tugged back to her feet before she could hit the ice. She smiled as she listened to her brother laughing as Yuugi almost fell, and giggled along with him as Yuugi was then thrown to the ice by a skater that had been careless.

Yuugi landed on the ice with a soft 'thumb' and pouted at the laughing couple. "It's not funny!" he pouted even more as the laughter continued.

Yami smiled as he calmed down and held his hand out for Yuugi to take. Yuugi, still pouting, grasped the hand and Yami helped him up. Yuugi lost his balance again though and fell towards Yami with a small yelp, taking the other down with him as he went and landing in Yami's arms.

"You really can't stay away from me, can you?" Yami purred teasingly, the deep red blush immediately spreading on Yuugi's cheeks making him smirk in amusement. "If you wanted a hug that badly…" he wrapped his arms around the other, making the blush deepen even more.

Kumiko giggled as she watched the scene, before skating off to give the two some privacy. She had after all done this so the two might open up a bit more to each other, and so what if she fell a couple of times?

Yuugi freed himself from Yami's embrace as he stood up, not daring to look into the other's eyes and trying his hardest to get rid of the blush tainting his cheeks. Yami just smirked even more as he got up as well, taking Yuugi's hand and starting to skate around the rink again, "I guess I'll just have to hold on to you; you never know when you might decide to fall again."

Yuugi pouted cutely again, "I can't help it if some people don't watch where they're skat-" just at that moment, someone bumped into him again, making Yuugi slip again. He would've fallen to the ice again, had it not been for a pair of strong arms catching him and pulling him into a well-toned chest.

"Falling for me again?" Yami smirked as Yuugi balanced himself again, and quickly taking back a step, blushing madly again. "Seriously Yuugi, all you had to do was tell me how you felt."

Yuugi's blush deepened. He knew the other was just joking, but that didn't make it any less suggestive to his ears. He tried to utter a comeback, only to stutter out complete nonsense as Yami chuckled and pulled him along again.

This was so _not_ his day.

Seeing as Yami was still smirking, and his blush hadn't left, Yuugi decided to change the subject… now he only needed something to change said subject with. Uhm… oh where was Kumiko when you needed a distraction?! _'Wait… where is Kumiko-chan?'_

Yuugi looked around confused at not seeing the young girl anywhere around. She couldn't have gotten far; she had to be in the rink, right?

"Hey Yami-kun? Where's Kumiko-chan?" Yami blinked at the question and looked around. He had to admit that he had almost forgotten about his little angel, and he mentally screamed at himself for doing so. Just because he was having fun with Yuugi didn't mean he could just forget about Kumiko!

"I actually have no idea…" Yami scanned the mass of people skating on the ice, "maybe she went to rest or something?"

Both looked at each other unsurely, and skated around the rink again to make sure the girl wasn't on the ice anymore. Kumiko was nowhere to be found, not a trace of her anywhere.

"Damnit!" Yami growled as he looked around frantically. How could he have let Kumiko out of his sight?! How could have let this happen?! How?!?!?!?!

"Don't worry, Yami-kun. Maybe she just got tired and is waiting for us at the rental booth." Yuugi offered, though his voice sounded unsure and unbelieving of his own words.

Yami sighed, "Well maybe." He started to pull Yuugi along to the entrance gate of the rink so they could get off the ice. They quickly made their way over to the rental booth but Kumiko wasn't there.

Both were panicking slightly now, and gave back the skates to replace them with normal shoes. They ran away from the rink, looking around the rest of the building to see if Kumiko hadn't wandered off in curiosity. They checked the restaurant, the other ice-rink, random places that were unimportant, but still couldn't find the young girl.

Yami was full-out panicking now, calling Kumiko's name frantically as he ran through the large building aimlessly. Yuugi was right behind him, worry showing in his eyes for not only Kumiko, but for Yami as well.

Yami stopped at the exit of the building, glancing outside and wondering if Kumiko maybe wandered out there. He couldn't understand why the girl would do that, but it was his only chance. He quickly took a few steps outside, but couldn't find a trace of the girl he was looking for so desperately.

"She's gone…" Yami's eyes were wide, and tears were slowly gathering in the corners. Yuugi glanced up at him worriedly, before also looking around to make sure Yami hadn't missed anything.

"She couldn't have just vanished into thin air!" Yuugi rubbed his temple in frustration. Kumiko was a very curious and trusting girl. What if someone had taken her?!

A soft scream snapped them both out of their panicked thoughts, and they glanced at each other with wide eyes, before running in the direction where the scream had come from.

They ran back into the building and into the long hallway, following the screams that sounded more regular now, until they came to a door that they had thought to be locked the first time they were looking for Kumiko. Yami glared at his own stupidity since he hadn't even checked if the door was really locked or not, before checking if he could open it. The door swung open to reveal a small secluded square right behind the building. In the center of the square were three man standing around Kumiko, who was laying on the ground with a fearful look in her eyes. She was shaking and tears were freely flowing from her eyes as she stared up at one of the men.

"Kumiko!" All three men turned around as they heard Yami shout only to be met with furiously blazing crimson eyes. Yami was beyond enraged, and these three were going to pay for taking Kumiko.

"Well, well, well, is this the brother you've been calling for the past few minutes?" a blonde spoke. Casting blue eyes over the duo at the door, "or is it the pipsqueak behind him?"

"Doesn't really matter, boss," the one standing left from the 'boss' chuckled, his features sporting an evil grin, "they saw us so they die."

The third one just laughed as Yami's eyes narrowed further, "Get away from my sister, you bastards," he hissed as he came closer. He could feel Yuugi's worried amethyst eyes on his back, but ignored them for now as he had better things to do.

"You wanna fight, punk?" the third asked, "Then come on." He pulled a chain from his pants and smirked as he swirled them around in the air, daring Yami to come any closer.

Yami didn't care though; he only cared about getting Kumiko away from these freaks. He swiftly ducked the lash of the chain as he came too close, before quickly shifting his weight and kicking the man's legs out from under him.

The man fell to the ground with a yelp, as Yami quickly dodged a blow the second man threw at him. The man stumbled forward, tripping over his companion and falling to the ground as well. Yami kicked them as they lay there, making both groan in pain.

Yami wanted to turn around fast enough to see what the first man was doing, but was too late as he heard Yuugi cry out for him to watch out. A fist connected with his back only moments later and Yami stumbled forward as well, though he managed to avoid the fallen other bullies.

A kick to his side send him falling to the ground, but Yami caught his fall and quickly got up to dodge the next kick. He quickly countered with a kick of his own that made the first man stumble backwards, glaring at Yami as if that would make the pain in his stomach go away.

The other two had gotten up and were standing on either side of him. Both charged at him at the same time, and Yami barely managed to dodge the double attack. The two crashed into each other, though it had been a close call.

Yami punched the two to the ground again. One man at a time was bad enough; he didn't need three all at once. The first one lashed out at him again, but Yami managed to dodge that punch too, only to trip to the ground as one of the other two stuck out his leg.

Yami fell to the ground with a 'thud' and rubbed his rear for a split-second, before opening it again to glare at the three men above him.

The sight that met him, however, was a bit different from what he had expected. The first man was holding a gun aimed straight at him, and the safety had already been removed. One pull on the trigger and he'd be dead.

Yami froze, staring at the gun in shock, until he heard Yuugi call out to them.

"Leave him alone!" Yuugi ran over, kneeling beside Yami and glaring as best he could at the threesome. The three just laughed.

"Do you really think any of you are getting away alive? I don't think so!" the second one laughed insanely, as Yuugi paled as the gun was aimed at him.

What was he supposed to do now? Protect Yami? Get killed? That didn't exactly sound like a very good plan to him, so he'd have to go at it from another direction.

"Any last words you two want to share?" The first man mocked, the gun taking a better aim at Yuugi since he was sitting in front of Yami partially. Yami grabbed Yuugi and pulled him to his chest, a low growl escaping his throat. Yuugi's head was bowed, not revealing any of his emotions.

"Well then say goodbye!"

As the man pulled the trigger, Yami could suddenly see a golden aura surrounding them. His eyes widened as he saw Yuugi giving off a golden glow.

"I'm sorry… Yami-kun." Yami's eyes widened further as the light somehow stopped the bullets in mid-air, before the two small items fell to the ground harmlessly. The golden light dimmed again to reveal Yuugi, though he looked a lot different now.

Yuugi's clothes had changed into long pure white robes decorated with golden designs Yami had never seen before. His body was surrounded by golden shimmering and swirling magic, just waiting to be used. As Yuugi slowly turned to check on him, Yami could see his amethyst eyes sparkling with an inner light, as a faint golden aura still surrounded him. The only thing missing in the picture were the angelic white feather wings, but Yami had a feeling that didn't really matter.

"You… You're… Yuu… Ang… He couldn't form a sensible sentence. He could only stutter and stare as Yuugi gave him sad smile, before getting out of Yami's embrace and turning back to the equally shocked gang.

"You wanted to hurt Yami-kun and Kumiko-chan huh?" Yuugi glared - an actual pretty intimidating glare at that - and took a step towards the men. The three scrambled back fearfully, the first man firing the gun a few more times only to have the bullets be stopped by the golden shimmering magic swirling around Yuugi's body again.

Yami scrambled towards the by now unconscious form of his sister, cradling her in his arms as he watched more bullets being fired uselessly. So this was what Yuugi had been keeping from him? The other was really an angel? But why hadn't Yuugi told him? Had the other not trusted him enough for that?

Had Yuugi not seen him as a friend?

Yuugi's magic surrounded the three gang members, and the three instantly fell to the ground unconscious. A few whimpers came from their lips, signalling that they were in some kind of pain, but no other sound came from them.

Yuugi's magic faded away and his normal clothing appeared again. The boy slumped slightly, his eyes drooping a little to signal that he was tired. Yami supposed that using magic took its toll on you here on Earth. Yuugi approached the three gang members and kneeled down, muttering words Yami couldn't understand under his breath as a brief golden aura surrounded the gang members, before fading away again.

Tired and unfocussed amethyst orbs opened again as Yuugi turned to face Yami. The look on the other's face made him flinch visibly.

Shock and disbelief were still etched onto Yami's features, though hurt and betrayal were also clearly visible. Yuugi's heart tore apart at the look, but he was too tired to explain. He tried to get up, tried to get to Yami, but the use of his magic had completely worn him out. The world around him went black as he fell to the ground.

Unknown to all present on the square, two blue orbs followed all the action going on from a small window no one had seemed to notice. The already narrowed eyes narrowed further as Yami slowly got up with Kumiko still in his arms, and walked over to the unconscious Yuugi. They watched as Yami hesitantly took the smaller into his arms, before leaving to probably go home.

Yoru scowled at the discovery that the runt that had befriended his son was in reality an angel. It seemed Aknunkanon had been keeping information from him, as he was sure the demonic overlord had known this little fact.

Out of the shadows surrounding him appeared a demon, red eyes boring into Yoru's. Yoru didn't even flinch at the look, already being used to it.

"Tell your ruler I want to speak to him, and that I expect him to come to my office in two hours." Yoru's voice was strict, commanding, and didn't leave any room for discussion. The demon wasn't impressed though.

"And why do you think he'll respond to such a demand, _mortal_?" The demon scowled, his voice showing his disgust for Yoru and the rest of humanity.

Yoru glared for a second, before turning around and starting to leave.

"Because if he doesn't, he can kiss our deal goodbye, and he'll have to get Yami on his own. I don't care if he kills me."

The demon watched Yoru leave, snarling and hissing at the insolent mortal. This man would die, be it now because he refused to keep up his end of the deal, or after the deal would be over because he had become useless to his Master.

The demon smirked at that thought, and faded into the shadows to go tell his ruler of the human's demand, knowing his Master wouldn't like to be ordered around by someone like Yoru.

* * *

**Okay, so you probably once again want to kill me…. But I think the angel thing didn't really come as much of a surprise to all of you since I've been making it pretty much obvious the entire time without trying to hide it the slightest. Anyway, I'll leave you all so you can all REVIEW! **


	9. Chapter 08: Explanation

**Hello there people! Now I know I was very mean leaving it there at a cliffie... like I tend to do a lot... okay ignore that last comment ne? Just go read and review and forget about the fact that I kept putting up cliffies. After all, this chap DOESN'T have a cliffie! Go me huh? R&R!

* * *

**

**--: 08 :--  
Explanation **

"Yami-kun? Please open the door!" Yuugi banged on his friend's bedroom door over and over but didn't receive any reply. He sighed and leaned against the wall, a desperate look on his face. He knew Yami was angry at him, and that the other would probably never trust him again.

After he'd saved Kumiko and Yami and Yuugi had woken up, he'd noticed that he was in Kumko's room and Yami was nowhere to be found. Kumiko had told him that after Yami had brought them back from the ice-rink yesterday, he had locked himself away in his room though she didn't know why. The girl had looked so sad that her brother wouldn't talk to her, though Yuugi was happy that she hadn't seen him as an angel.

Yuugi had run to Yami room, and he'd been banging on Yami's door ever since, and that had been about half an hour ago already.

He slid to the ground and sighed again. He should've told Yami before, but what could he have really said? Hey Yami, I'm an ex-angel that came down to Earth to help you, thereby breaking just about every rule ever made up there so I can never go back. So what's for lunch?

No, that really wouldn't have worked. But now Yami was angry at him for not telling him something like that. He hadn't even gotten a chance to explain it all, although he doubted he'd really be able to.

"Please, Yami-kun," he whispered, looking down at the ground in a defeated manner. He wouldn't leave until Yami would open the door and talked to him, even if Yoru came home and tried to kick him out. He simply refused to give up his friendship with Yami over something like this.

Yuugi's head shot up as he heard the lock on the door next to him click, before the door opened to reveal Yami. Yuugi gasped at the state the other was in. His eyes where red of crying and he looked like he hadn't slept last night. His hair was tangled and tousled, his clothes were messed as well.

Yuugi ignored the state Yami was in for now, and shot up, "Yami-kun! I'm so sorry! I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how and then Kumiko and…" Yuugi trailed off, not really knowing what he was supposed to say. He looked up at Yami fearfully, afraid the other would kick him out and would never want to see him again.

Yami let out a sigh and stepped aside so Yuugi could come into his room. He locked the door as soon as Yuugi had hesitantly stepped inside. He went back to the bed, and lay down again, resuming to stare at the ceiling as he'd been doing the entire night.

Yuugi stood in the middle of the room for a second, before slowly walking to the bed and sitting down. Yami didn't even seem to notice him, as if only half realizing he wasn't alone anymore. Yuugi sighed again. "Please, Yami-kun, just let me explain."

Yami slowly turned his head to Yuugi and looked him straight in the eye. Hurt was clearly visible in the crimson depths, and distrust even more. Yuugi flinched slightly.

"What's there to talk about?" Yami's voice was hoarse of crying and sounded almost empty, "You obviously thought this wasn't important enough to tell me, or maybe you just didn't trust me." He let out a sigh and looked back at the ceiling, "I really thought you were my friend, Yuugi-kun. I guess you didn't see me as one."

Yuugi shook his head frantically, "No! I really did see you as a friend and I still do!"

"Then why didn't you tell me?" Yami was now half glaring at him, and Yuugi flinched again. He didn't want Yami to be mad at him, far from it actually. He wanted Yami happy.

"Well what was I supposed to say? I couldn't just tell you I was an ex-angel out of the blue!" Yuugi clenched his eyes to hold back tears, "Would I betray you on purpose if you're the person why I gave all of that up for?"

Yami's eyes widened for a second, before disbelief overruled all other emotions. Yuugi had given all that up for him? But… "Why?"

Yuugi let out a sigh and stood up, turning his back on Yami to hide his face. "I've been watching you for about a year now. You were always blocking everybody out of your life because you didn't want to be hurt again, while all you really needed was a good friend. I wanted to help, but couldn't from up there… so I came down. I broke a lot of rules for that, and I can never go back…" Tears were now freely streaming down his face as he was reminded of what he'd given up just to come down and help Yami. It hurt to think about it, it really did. But so far he hadn't regretted his choice and he wasn't about to start now.

Yami's eyes widened further, but he couldn't help but feel as if Yuugi was holding something back, as if the other wasn't telling him everything. It did explain why it had cost Yuugi so much energy to use his magic though, as well as why he didn't have any wings. He slowly got off the bed and walked over to Yuugi, wrapping his arms around the boy's waist from behind and pulling him into a hug. "Any other reason…?"

Yuugi hesitated. There had been another reason, but he didn't know if he should tell Yami. Right now the other seemed to be over his anger and disappointment so telling him could break that up again. On the other hand, Yami obviously felt that he hadn't told everything, so not telling might just do the same thing.

"Yuugi-kun, whatever it is, I won't get mad… I think anyway." Yami frowned, "Well not if it's a normal reason anyway."

Yuugi laughed nervously, before turning around in Yami's arms to face him, a hesitant and slightly scared look on his face. "It's a normal reason but…" he looked at the ground, "I don't want to lose you as a friend so maybe it's best if I just don't say that one."

Yami looked into the other's eyes, but nothing of the answer he was looking for showed in them. He had a faint idea what Yuugi's second reason was, and could only hope he was right. He'd have to push the answer out of Yuugi though… something that wasn't going to be easy. And even if Yuugi was about to say what he thought the other was about to say…

"I really won't stop being your friend over some small thing, Yuugi-kun. I think the whole angel thing was the worst thing you could keep from me, unless you're going to tell me that you're just a spy and you're actually a demon."

Yuugi giggled at that, and relaxed slightly in Yami's arms. At feeling Yami's arms around him tighten, he hesitantly wrapped his arms around Yami's neck, but didn't dare to look into the other's eyes. Well, if he was going to say it, it might as well be now.

"Well like I said, I've been watching you for about a year now. I could see who you really were when you were around Kumiko, and how much you were hurting on the inside every time you broke down. In other words, I saw the real you. You might think that you're weak and all, but all I saw was someone who despite everything he went through, still managed to keep going. In my opinion that takes a strong person and…" he took a deep breath, "I fell in love with that person, I fell in love with you."

Silence hung in the room for a second, and Yuugi was afraid Yami would kick him out of the house now after all. What he didn't expect was his chin being lifted by Yami's thumb to force him to look up.

"Was that all?" Yami smiled as the fear in the other's eyes slowly disappeared and hope replaced it. His hand trailed away from Yuugi's chin to cup the other's cheek. Yuugi leaned into the touch, but confusion was now also visible in the amethyst orbs.

"Yami-kun-"

"Shh." Yami put a finger on Yuugi's lips to cut the other off, before taking it away again and just smiling gently at the other. Slowly he leaned down and pressed his own lips to Yuugi's. The other didn't respond for a second, obviously too shocked, but then pressed back desperately. Yami's embrace tightened, as the kiss turned more passionate. Slowly Yami licked Yuugi's bottom lip, before biting it softly. Yuugi gasped a little and Yami took the opportunity to explore Yuugi's mouth further.

Both boys moaned as the kiss went on, Yuugi's hands tangling themselves into Yami's already messed up hair, and Yami's hands wandering below the smaller one's shirt.

After a long time they finally pulled away, panting heavily. Yuugi looked dazed and totally blown away, his bodyweight resting on Yami to keep him up. Yami's eyes were glazed over slightly as well, though lust was a lot more apparent than anything else.

Yami started to kiss down Yuugi's jaw line to Yuugi's ear, before sucking on the lobe slightly, "Still think I'm going to hate you?" he murmured softly, making a shiver run down Yuugi's spine.

Yuugi closed his eyes, for a second feeling like he was back in heaven only better. "Maybe, maybe not. You could always try to convince me more…" Yuugi left the sentence hanging, letting Yami decide in what way he'd take that line. He had never in his wildest dreams thought Yami would actually feel the same way as he did, but it did give him some very nice possibilities…

Possibilities that were currently running through his mind very vividly.

Yuugi blushed slightly at his own thoughts and the mental images he got with them. He looked up at Yami to see the other's reaction and shivered at the look the other had on his face.

Yami was smirking in a predatory way while his eyes were clouded with lust. Yuugi's mental images suddenly seemed a whole lot closer.

"Tsk, I had no idea you had such a dirty mind, Yuugi-_chan_." Yami smirked even more as the blush on Yuugi's face deepened at the new suffix. His hands wandered from Yuugi's back, to grope at the other's ass. Yuugi's face flushed more, but he didn't object against it.

"Well you're the one who took it that way, I didn't say a thing." Yuugi tried to look as innocent as possible, but the lust also showing in his eyes made it simply impossible. Yami chuckled, and leaned down for another kiss, his hands running all over Yuugi's body and groping every inch of flesh they could find. Yuugi moaned, pushing himself closer to Yami and gripping Yami's shoulders for a bit of support. Yami's hands came back up and started to pull at the annoying shirt that was covering Yuugi's upper body.

They briefly pulled away just so Yami could remove the shirt off Yuugi, before resuming the hungry kiss. Yami pulled Yuugi towards the bed, slightly stumbling as they both fell to the bed, still not breaking the heated kiss.

As they finally pulled away again, Yami trailed butterfly kisses down Yuugi's jaw line until he reached his neck and started to suck and bite down on the skin there. Yuugi's hands shot up to push Yami's head closer in a demand for more as another moan escaped his lips.

Yami chuckled again as he pulled away slightly, blowing on the mark he'd just made, before grinding their hips together and making their already rising arousals rub against each other. Both groaned at the feeling, as more lust overtook them.

"I'll be right back," Yami kissed Yuugi deeply again, before standing up and walking to the bathroom linking with his room. Yuugi looked after him in confusion, his mind too clouded to think of a possible explanation for Yami to go to the bathroom at a time like this.

Yami came back soon enough though with a bottle of lotion in his hand. Yuugi blinked for a second, before understanding why Yami'd gotten it.

"I don't really know much about having sex, let alone between guys," Yami grinned sheepishly, "but I do hear some stuff at school sometimes so I thought this might come in handy."

Yuugi smiled before simply pulling Yami down again into a kiss. He quickly slid his hands under Yami's shirt and pulled it up, breaking the kiss to get rid of it.

"Eager, are we?" Yami raised an eyebrow as he leaned down to start on Yuugi's neck again. He slowly kissed his way down Yuugi's chest, stopping when he came upon a very erect nipple. Grinning, he took in into his mouth and bit down softly, sucking the flesh at the same time.

Yuugi groaned and arched into Yami, softly begging for more. Eager was an understatement for him, but then again, he'd been dreaming of this for so long and now it was finally really happening. No, eager wasn't anywhere near describing how much he wanted this.

One of Yami's hands wandered down and started to unbuckle Yuugi's belt, as the other hand played with Yuugi's free nipple. He clumsily pulled Yuugi's pants away, leaving the younger in nothing but his boxers. Yami pulled away briefly to marvel at the beauty laying beneath him.

Yuugi blushed at the hungry look in Yami's eyes as the other looked him over. This was definitely a different Yami than he'd seen so far… and God he didn't mind seeing this one more often. He reached down to unbutton Yami's pants and pull them down with some help from Yami. Both their boxers soon followed, leaving them both completely naked and with hard-ons to be proud of.

Yami shifted downwards, kissing and licking a way across Yuugi's stomach and abdomen, and reaching the rock-hard erection. Yami's hesitantly glanced up for a second, but Yuugi was too far gone in the world of pleasure to really notice. Yami looked down again and gripped the throbbing member in his hand, before engulfing the rest of the sex with his mouth.

Yuugi's breath hitched sharply as something warm and wet engulfed him, and he moaned loudly. He tried to push in deeper, wanting more of that intense pleasure to surround him, only to be pinned to the bed by his hips. He groaned as he looked down to see Yami sucking his erection, just as the other gave one hard suck and Yuugi threw his head back in pleasure.

"Y-Yami!" He gasped as Yami let his tongue swirl around the erection, and gripped the sheets below him. This was _far_ beyond heaven for him, and it only seemed to be getting better.

Yami smirked as he continued his ministrations. The moaning, gasping, and begging coming from Yuugi only made him harder and more lustful. He felt Yuugi try to thrust into him again, and chuckled. The vibrations went through Yuugi's cock and made the other cry out loudly as he came into Yami's mouth. Yami swallowed everything, before giving Yuugi's member a last lick and drawing back. Yuugi groaned at the loss as he opened his eyes to meet a smirking Yami. Damn, Yami looked hot when naked and smirking.

Yami's smirk widened as he saw the totally dazed but still lustful look on Yuugi's face. He bent down again to capture Yuugi's lips in a fierce kiss again, and felt Yuugi press back just as hungrily as he. He could feel his member throbbing with pain by now, and he pulled away from the kiss. Would he go that far with Yuugi already? Did the other want that too?

One look into Yuugi's eyes told him the answer; a very big yes to both questions.

Yami's smirk returned as amethyst locked to his crimson again, still showing a need for the other. Yami took the bottle of lotion he'd gotten earlier again – as he'd dropped it before – and coated three fingers in the slick liquid. He glanced up as he felt Yuugi spread his legs and smiled as he saw Yuugi nod with a smile of his own on his face.

"You know this is going to hurt, right?" Yami's eyes showed a bit of worry, but Yuugi seemed to be completely fine with it.

"I know, but I want this, Yami-kun. I want you." Yuugi blushed at his own words, but kept his eyes locked with Yami's.

Yami smiled and leaned down to Yuugi's ear. "Just call me Yami." His lips quickly crushed down on Yuugi's again before the other could say a word. Calling someone by their first name without a sufflix was a big honour and showed familiarity. He could feel Yuugi still for a minute, before pressing back with passion. Both moaned again as Yami's hand moved down towards Yuugi's entrance, and slowly pushed one finger in.

Yuugi groaned but didn't pull away. Yami's free hand went back to playing with Yuugi's nipple in an attempt to distract him. Yuugi growled low in his throat, not knowing whether to wince in pain or moan in pleasure.

Yami pulled away as Yuugi's body started to relax again, though an awkward expression stayed on his face.

Yuugi gave a small nod and smiled at Yami's questioning gaze, "I'm fine, Yami." It felt weird to call Yami only by that, but good nonetheless.

Yami slowly pushed in a second finger, looking worried as Yuugi gave a small cry of pain. The other's body tensed again, tightening around Yami's fingers. Yami's hand trailed down from Yuugi's nipple to his still soft member, starting to stroke and pump it. Yuugi gasped and thrusted forward again, a moan escaping his lips even through the pain of the intrusion. His body relaxed again as his memberrose, and Yami pushed the third and final finger in.

Again Yuugi groaned low in his throat. On one hand Yami pushing his fingers into him was hurting like hell, but on the other hand Yami handling his member was pleasure beyond belief. Yami's fingers started to move, stretching him further. Yuugi bit his lip against the pain to stay silent, knowing Yami would stop if he was hurting him too much.

"Yuugi-" Yuugi cut Yami's sentence off by pulling the other down into a kiss. He could stand a bit of pain; it'd be turning into pleasure later after all.

Yami slowly pulled away from the kiss and withdrew his fingers, giving Yuugi a look over as he grabbed the bottle of lotion again. He watched as Yuugi's eyes slowly opened, the amethyst eyes darkened with lust and need again. Yami chuckled and slicked up his erection, loving the whimpers of need passing Yuugi's kiss-swollen lips. He positioned himself at Yuugi's entrance as Yuugi wrapped his legs around Yami's waist, and slowly pushed in. He moaned at the tightness and heat suddenly surrounding his member and had to use every bit of self-restrain he had not to just push in as fast and hard as he could.

Yuugi winced at the new intrusion but tried to stay as relaxed as possible. Yami sheeted himself completely and paused to let him adjust to the new feeling. After a few moments Yuugi pushed against Yami and gave a small nod, signalling Yami that he was okay. Yami pulled out and slammed in again, again having to restrain himself from going too fast and hard. He moaned, though he didn't miss Yuugi clenching his teeth in pain. He continues to slam in at a slow pace as he leaned down to capture Yuugi's lips in another passionate kiss. Yuugi groaned into the kiss as it went on, until he gasped as Yami hit a bundle of nerves inside of him.

Yami grinned down at the other as the pained groans were replaced by pleasured moans and gasps. He kept slamming into Yuugi's prostate, both teens growing louder by the second as they lost themselves in their pleasure. Yami shifted slightly so he could reach down to pump Yuugi's member once more. Yuugi let out a gasp again before clenching his eyes and throwing his head back as the loudest moan yet escaped his lips.

Yuugi's body clenched, preparing to come for the second time. Yami slamming into him, hitting his prostate over and over again as he pumped his member in time with the strokes was too much and with another stroke, he let out a cry of Yami's name and released all over their chests, his body shaking with as his orgasm overtook him.

Yuugi's inner walls tightening around him almost drove Yami over the edge. He moaned as he slammed into the other a few more times, before releasing deep into Yuugi with his own cry of Yuugi's name. He barely managed to shift off Yuugi as he dropped to the bed, panting heavily as his own orgasm took him away. Only when the last waves of pleasure had gone away did he open his eyes and pull out of Yuugi. The other was just opening his eyes as well.

Yami smiled and pulled Yuugi close to him, stroking his back lovingly as he nuzzled his face into Yuugi's hair. "I love you, Aibou." He sighed contently, his anger and disappointment long since forgotten.

"So you're not angry anymore?" Yami glanced down into slightly scared but very hopeful eyes, and smiled reassuringly.

"I could never stay angry at you," he gave Yuugi's hair an affectionate nuzzle, "you're just too cute for that."

Yuugi blushed, but a bright smile came onto his face, "I love you too, Yami." he giggled a little and Yami glanced at him curiously.

"What?"

"It's just that we kept denying to everyone at school that we weren't a couple, and look at us now." Yami smiled and chuckled lightly, his grip on Yuugi tightening.

"This is one thing I'm glad they were right about."

A soft knock on the door made them both look up questioningly, until Kumiko's soft and worried voice asked if everything was alright. Yami mentally slapped himself for forgetting that the younger girl of course would've heard the moans and cries that had just filled the room, and scowled at himself.

"We're fine, Tenshi." Yami sighed and made a mental note to think before letting his hormones get the better of him next time.

"Can I come in, Mi-chan?" Kumiko still sounded unsure, obviously worried that the two of them were fighting or had hurt each other. Yami and Yuugi smiled at each other, though they knew they couldn't exactly let the girl in right now.

"Not right now, Kumiko. Yuugi and I are making up okay?" Yuugi shook his head at the smirking Yami, and rested his head against the older's chest again.

_'More like making love.' _

He could feel Kumiko's aura changing into happy as it usually felt as the girl happily said yes and ran back to her room.

Yami smiled down at Yuugi again, "Well I guess she's not the only angel in my life anymore, huh?"

Yuugi giggled, "Well I'm an ex-angel, not really an angel anymore." A brief sadness appeared on his face as he once again though of what he'd lost, before it changed back to happy as Yami nuzzled him, "But I'm glad I came down for you."

They both sighed contently one last time, before snuggling together and letting sleep take them away.

* * *

**Moony: Ghe, everybody happy now? Since you've all been yelling at me to get the two together this _should_ make up for it... I hope anyway °sweatdrops° Anyway, no cliffie, a lemon, the two finally get together, what else do you want?**

**Readers: To know why Aknunkanon wants Yami?**

**Moony: Okay, _besides_ that! You'll know that soon enough, so just suck it up for now and be happy with what you go. To show your enormous appriciation for all the good things in this chap, REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 09: Reason

**

* * *

Hey guys! Don't have much to say °everyone looks in shock° yes, very shocking indeed, but it only helps you since you can read sooner. R&R!****

* * *

**

**--: 09 :--  
Reason**

Yuugi snuggled closer to Yami as he felt the other's arms tightening around him protectively. He smiled as he noticed all the glares his boyfriend was throwing at every student that so much as dared look at them. It had been two weeks since the incident where Kumiko had gotten kidnapped and they had gotten together. Yami had proven to be a bit possessive and overprotective of him now that they were together, but Yuugi couldn't help but love that.

"Mi-chan, you can't kill them by glaring." Kumiko giggled at her brother's antics and smiled sweetly as he pouted at her.

"Well they do turn away because of it, so I'd say it's at least half working." Both Yuugi and Kumiko giggled at that, and Yami only pouted more.

"Just let them, Yami. What do you care if they stare?" Yuugi looked up at his boyfriend innocently. He knew Yami hated it when people stared and whispered about him, and ever since they had officially gotten together that had been happening a lot.

Yuugi glanced around and spotted a familiar blue-eyed brunette glaring at them - or him in particular was more like it. Anzu definitely didn't like the fact that Yami and Yuugi were officially dating, and the rumors about how far the two were in their relationship didn't go unnoticed by her either. As head cheerleader she was gossip-central, so she knew every little detail of what was going on around her. She was still trying to send every bully in the school – and some even out of school – after him, but with Yami now playing as his bodyguard almost every second of the day, it was really hard.

The brunette also tried to break the two up by spreading false rumors – Yuugi had cheated on Yami with another guy, Yami had been flirting with a lot of girls lately – but both saw right through the lies. Yuugi knew that Yami was still too closed to start flirting with random girls, and Yami knew Yuugi wouldn't betray him like that after giving up so much for him in the first place.

Anzu's last attempts had been to simply flirt with Yami again while trying to push Yuugi away. Actually, it was about time for another try really. Anzu tried at least twice a week. It was Saturday and she'd only tried once so far.

Just as that thought had passed Yuugi's mind, Anzu moved closer to them, swaying her hips in a very seductive manner – or at least any other guy would think so – and having a 'come-hither' look on her face.

"Oh Yami-kun." Yami rolled his eyes at the purred words. Couldn't Anzu take the hint already? He wasn't interested in her; he doubted he was even interested in girl in general actually.

"What is it, Mazaki-san?" Yami really sounded annoyed, his words coming out as a growl almost, but it didn't faze Anzu the slightest. She sat down next to them against the Sakura tree, leaning forward enough to let Yami look into her top that already showed a lot of cleavage anyway.

"Well I was wondering, it's your birthday soon, right? Do you know what you're going to do and who you'll invite yet?" Anzu leaned closer, her eyes half-lidded as she tried to look seductive. Yami gave her a bored look.

"My birthday is Monday, and I'm just going to celebrate it Sunday at home with Kumiko and Yuugi." Yami smirked at the scowl, passing Anzu's face briefly. Yami and Yuugi had stopped using surflixes ever since they started dating – though Yami called Yuugi 'Aibou' more than he called him Yuugi - , and Anzu hated the fact that she was still 'Mizaki-san' for him. Of course Yami would much rather call her a bitch, but he had decided against that a long time ago. She would just ignore it and he could possibly get into trouble for it. She simply wasn't worth it.

"Don't you want to invite me?" Anzu's face turned back to seductive as her hand went up to caress Yami's cheek. To her surprise it was Yuugi who slapped it away.

"Take the hint, Mizaki-san." Yuugi's face showed annoyance. He was really getting sick and tired of Anzu trying to seduce Yami. It wasn't working and irritating as hell.

Anzu glared at him, "Stay out of this. This is between me and Yami-kun. What do you know about it?"

Yuugi snorted, "Last time I checked, I was the one dating him." Ouch, that had Anzu flinching.

"He's just using you to make me jealous!" Anzu's glare hardened, "You'll see; he'll dump you for me as soon as he's had his fun with you."

"Why would he want to make you jealous? You're already throwing yourself at him so it isn't exactly needed." Both glared at each other until Yuugi felt Yami's arms around him tighten. The boy looked up to find Yami looking at him amusedly.

"Don't look so angry, Aibou. You look much cuter when you smile." Yami leaned down and kissed Yuugi's forehead tenderly, before giving the other's hair an affectionate nuzzle.

Anzu glared harder as Yuugi smiled again, before snuggling into Yami's chest once more, "You can stop doing this, Yami-kun. You really don't have to make me jealous."

"I'm not trying to." Yami said calmly, not letting Anzu ruin his mood this time, "I'm simply flirting with my lover." He could see Anzu's anger once again flaring up at those words, and smirked at her.

Kumiko looked between her brother and Anzu, before cocking her head cutely, "Is she really so dumb that she can't see you love Yuugi-kun or is she just acting?" Both Yuugi and Yami chuckled at the innocent question as Anzu's eyes widened in shock. Did a kid just insult her? Without even trying to?

"She's not a very good actor, so I think it's real, Tenshi." Yami smirked at the furious look on Anzu's face, before the girl stood up with as much grace as she could muster at a time like this.

"Tell me when you're done with the kids, Yami-kun. Maybe then you'll finally see that you're throwing away a lot by spending all this time with these losers."

Yami's glare came back. _No one_ insulted Yuugi and Kumiko. "If you say one more word about Yuugi and Kumiko, I'll make sure you won't live to see another day, Mizaki-san."

Anzu palled a little as she saw how much that threat was meant by just looking into Yami's eyes, before she quickly walked away to the group of cheerleaders sitting at one of the tabled outside. Yami smirked again as he saw her leave, satisfied that he had scared her for at least a couple of days.

Or so he hoped at least.

Yuugi chuckled, "Think she got the hint this time?"

Yami snorted, "I doubt she'll stay away for long. She'll probably be back by Monday to bug us again."

"True." Yuugi smiled, "So we're not really going to do anything tomorrow?"

"I thought we might catch a movie, go out for dinner, and then just relax back home or something. Nothing really big or anything."

Kumiko looked at him curiously, "But Mi-chan, it's your 18th birthday. Shouldn't that be special?"

"Kumiko-chan is right you know."

Yami sighed and smiled at the two, "Sorry guys, I'm not one for celebrating my birthday big. It'll just be a night out for the three of us okay?"

Both pouted, though stayed quiet as Yami just smiled affectionately at them. They were only trying to help – Yuugi even more than Kumiko – but he just wanted them with him during his birthday, having fun without doing something too extreme. So what if it was his 18th birthday? The only reason why it was going to be special was because he now had two people he really loved to celebrate it with. That, and his father was leaving him alone more and more.

* * *

Yami and Yuugi came in laughing, Kumiko tailing behind them and giggling at the tipsy state her brother and his boyfriend were in. After the movie they had gone to a small club and Yami had drunk just a little too much, though not enough to get them drunk. Kumiko had to admit that her brother was quite funny like this, though the dancing Yuugi and he had displayed was… maybe a bit too much for her to know right now. 

One of Yami's arms was wrapped around Yuugi's waist, though Kumiko wondered if it was really just because her brother liked to hold Yuugi that way or maybe also to keep himself balanced.

Then again, Yuugi didn't really seem to mind.

"You should've seen the girl's face when I told her I had a boyfriend, priceless!" Yami grinned at the memory. A random girl in the bar had been flirting with him when Yuugi had gone to the toilet, and Yami had simply told her that he was already taken… by a guy. The result was, as Yami had said, priceless.

"I really would've loved seeing that." Yuugi giggled as Yami sat down on the couch and pulled him into his lap. Yuugi immediately cuddled up to Yami as the other's strong arms wrapped around him. Kumiko sat down next to them and grabbed the remote.

"So where do you think father is?" Kumiko looked up at Yami questioningly. It was past 12 – it was a surprise to both Yuugi and Yami that the girl hadn't fallen asleep yet but Yami had decided to let her stay up as long as she wanted, as he'd call in sick for all of them tomorrow for school – and they hadn't seen Yoru's car parked outside.

"I don't know, but I'm not complaining." Yami smiled and sat back as Kumiko flipped channels, relaxing into the soft couch and snuggling Yuugi close to him.

The sound of the front door slamming open made them all turn to the direction of the hallway. The door separating living room and hall from each other also slammed open as a furious looking Yoru stood in the door opening. Yami instinctively help Yuugi tighter as he moved Kumiko to stand behind him. Yuugi looked at the scene worriedly, but didn't say anything.

"You," Yoru growled low in his throat, his eyes blazing with fury, "where did you come from this late?" The question was more of a demand than anything else, and the slightest bit of fear etched itself into Yami's eyes, though he tried his best to hide it.

"We went out… For my birthday?" Yami nervously fiddled with Yuugi's shirt as he tried his best to sound confident. It was just too bad that the fear for his father was too big, and it would probably never go away.

"Did I give permission for that? No I didn't. I give you a place to sleep; I even let you keep your bitch here when he should be out on the streets with all the other useless trash. And you won't even listen to my rules?!" Although Yami's temper wanted to flare at the remark about Yuugi, his fear was holding him back. Yoru walked into the room further, glaring at the presents lying on the table. One of them was a beautiful drawing of Yami and Yuugi in a forest, and was obviously drawn by Kumiko as she didn't really have a lot of money to buy anything. The second present was a crystal statue of an angel that strangely resembled Kireira. Her wings were spread and the woman had a serene smile on her face. Yoru's temper flared further as he though of his dead wife.

"This is what the runt gave you?" Yoru picked up the small statue and held it up, Yami immediately got up, pushing Yuugi behind him as well as panic spread across his expression.

"No, please don't, not that." Yoru just smirked as he 'accidentally' dropped the crystal angel. Yami tried to grab it but was too late and it shattered on the ground into a million pieces.

Yami's eyes widened in horror as he knelt down by the broken pieces. Yuugi had made the statue with his magic after seeing some pictures of his mother, and had given it to Yami as his present. The image was so liking and the magic had formed every detail perfectly. Yami had been overjoyed. And now… it was all broken.

Tears gathered in his eyes as he heard Yoru laugh and felt Yuugi tug on his arm. He ripped his arm away, standing up with tear filled eyes, though a glare was very much there.

"Bastard!" Yami's fist lashed out and punched Yoru in the stomach. The man doubled over as Yami ran away through the still open front door. He ignored the yells of Yuugi and Kumiko as they came after him, and kept running.

After a few blocks he couldn't hear the two anymore, though he kept running. He felt bad about running away from them, knowing they hadn't done anything wrong, but he just wanted to be alone right now. He had no idea where he was going, tears blurring his vision quite a bit, but when he finally stopped and wiped the tears away, he saw the entrance to the park.

Yami smiled wryly. So he had brought himself to the only place he could think peacefully huh? Well it made sense. He slowly entered and walked around, slowly calming down enough to think straight again, though this only made sure he became angrier at Yoru.

"Poor little boy, all alone and angry." Yami's bowed head shot up to look around for the person who had spoken those words. It was almost 1 AM so there shouldn't be anyone else here…

His eyes met with equally crimson orbs, as a shadowy figure stood near the pond, under his favorite tree. Yami stopped and looked at the man suspiciously, trying to see the man through the darkness.

The other chuckled and came closer, the light of the streetlamps now making it possible to see what the man looked like.

Yami's eyes widened as he saw black leather-like wings, sharp claws, and pointed teeth. This was no man obviously, this was a demon. Well if angels existed, than why not demons? Yami mentally sighed; his life was so screwed up.

"You're angry at your father, you want revenge, and you want it to be painful."

Yami glared, "Straight to the point I see. Who are you and what do you want from me?"

"My name is Aknunkanon, demonic overlord. What I want is to help you get your way. I'm always in for a nice bloodbath or at least torture." Aknunkanon smirked at the though of seeing Yoru suffer. If would be so much fun to see the other screaming for mercy instead of screaming at him that he'd been keeping information from him.

"The demonic overlord comes all the way to Earth only help little old me, and the only reason is because he wants to see someone get tortured?" Yami raised a skeptical eyebrow, "What's your real reason and what do you get out of it."

"I have my reasons for wanting to help you." Aknunkanon smirked at the frown on Yami's face, "As for what I get out of it. For one a nice show, but you are right, there is another price to pay."

Yami muttered under his breath about his rotten luck, crap life, and going totally crazy, before shaking his head to clear it of all thoughts so he could concentrate on the conversation. "So what's the price?"

"Just the same cliché thing as most movies make us get, your soul. You get power beyond your wildest imagination, and you can do whatever you want with it, but in return I want to have your soul so I'll be sure you use all that power in a way that I like it." Yami blinked at the answer. So those type of movies weren't that crap at all huh? Well no way was he taking this deal, he preferred his soul right were it was.

Right?

Right.

Although… having the power to finally get back at Yoru really did sound appealing, and he knew he could never do anything as long as he was as he was…

Aknunkanon grinned maniacally as he watched the doubt dance around in Yami's eyes. The other wanted to take the deal, but was being stopped by his morals. Well then Aknunkanon would just have to do something to weaken those wouldn't he?

"Just imagine," Aknunkanon's magic formed a ball between the two of them, and Yami backed away slowly. He watched as images appeared in the shadowy orb, showing Yoru in all kinds of painful situations, some Yami could've never thought of, and were certainly not possible without the magic Aknunkanon was offering.

Yami's resolve started to fade. He really wanted to get back at Yoru, and he'd do practically anything for it. But… Yuugi… he couldn't…

"Worried about your angel friend?" Aknunkanon mentally growled. That runt was probably the only thing that was standing in his way of getting Yami. "I'm sure he'll understand if he really loves you. He'll understand that you had to do this."

Yami looked at the ground. Yuugi was an angel, and this man the demonic overlord. Could he trust the other's word? On the other hand, Yuugi would understand this… right?

"I… don't know…" Yami whispered, not looking but now hearing the pained cries coming from the black orb. He clenched his eyes, trying to think of the right decision. What had this life really given him? Only Yuugi and Kumiko but they would surely understand. If he told Kumiko of what their father had been doing all these years she wouldn't be angry, would she?

"Just think of all the people you can get back at with all that power. Yoru, the students at school, everyone else that made you life a living hell all these years…" Aknunkanon played with the orb in his hand, his mind constantly thinking of new ways to kill or torture Yoru. If Yami wouldn't do it, at least he'd have more than enough ideas to do it himself now.

"I… I want…" Yami swallowed as he looked up, his eyes already revealing that he was going to agree to what was being proposed to him, but his mouth not yet wanting to say the words out loud.

Aknunkanon held out his hand, "Just take my hand and I'll seal the deal. You'll have all the power you can get, and the only thing you'll lose is your soul. What do you really do with that anyway?"

Yami hesitantly brought his hand up, thoughts still running through his head but his body working automatically to grasp the other's. This was it, he was finally going to have his revenge on everyone that had made his life so hard…

"Yami!" Yami whirled around at the sound of Yuugi voice and watched as two figures ran up to them. Yuugi's eyes widened as he saw Aknunkanon and he immediately grabbed Yami and pulled him away from the demon ruler.

"Stay away from him!" Yuugi glared, and this one was definitely intimidating. He would _not_ let Aknunkanon have Yami. He would _not_ let that happen!

"Yuugi, he's just-"

"Trying to trick you into giving him your soul!" Yuugi growled. Yami had never seen Yuugi react to anything like this, and his old doubts came back.

"How dare you interfere with my business! This is none of your concern!"

"Isn't it? You're about to take _my_ boyfriend away by not telling him the entire truth about whatever deal you promised him! Did you tell him what a soul really is to people?!"

"Oh you're the one to talk! Like you've been telling him everything, huh Angel!"

"Yami already knows I was an angel, and that was different!"

"Oh was it? And I think you have something else to tell him too!"

"Don't you dare start about that! That was a long time ago, and he has nothing more to do with that!"

Yami blinked and looked at Yuugi questioningly, then switched his gaze to Aknunkanon. The demon was smirking in triumph while Yuugi was still glaring daggers at him. Yami frowned and took Yuugi's hand. "What's he talking about, Aibou?"

Yuugi's gaze switched to Yami and the glare immediately vanished, "It's nothing, Yami. It doesn't matter for you anymore. Aknunkanon is just trying to find a way to get you to take the deal, but if you lose your soul, you lose your feel of right and wrong too."

Yami scowled and glared at the other man. Yuugi would understand huh? No way would Yuugi understand if he went evil.

"Doesn't my little fact matter, Angel? Because I think it does. After all, it might just show him how much he belongs to my side." Aknunkanon's smirk widened, "Don't you think so?"

"That was his past life! He has nothing to do with that anymore!" Yami once again looked between the two arguing males in confusion. A past life? What were they talking about? Did past lives really exist? Had he done something wrong in his past one?

He turned Yuugi around and looked the other in the eyes sternly, "Yuugi, what is he talking about? What did I do?"

Yuugi shook his head stubbornly, "It doesn't matter. It was in your last life so it doesn't apply to you."

"Oh just tell him, or I will."

"Don't you dare tell him!"

"Well if you won't, I will do it."

"People! Shut up!" Ex-angel and demon looked at the frustrated Yami in surprise. They hadn't expected an outburst like that. "Now that I have your attention, just tell me what the hell you're talking about. If it doesn't matter anymore, then you can just tell me."

Aknunkanon smirked wickedly as Yuugi's protests were cut of by a stern look from Yami. "What we're talking about, my dear Yami, is the real reason why I want you to accept my deal. Do you know what you were in your previous life?"

Yami frowned and shook his head slowly. If he knew that he wouldn't be getting so frustrated over this, now would he?

"In your previous life, dear boy," Aknunkanon smirked at the desperate looking Yuugi, "you were my son, the heir to the demonic throne and the most vicious demon of them all. You were well-known for your torture ways, and you were the strongest among us. All that power is locked up inside you, just waiting to come out again. You belong with me, my son. You belong to the dark side."

* * *

**Oh, I love this little cliffhanger. I'll leave you guys to figure out how this works for the rest of the week before telling you, nice ne? °grins° Please review!**

**P.S.: I'm rewriting HO into an original fic so I need to change nmes and appearences. I already have most of the characters covered, but I can't figure out a good name for Aknunkanon. If anyone can help me (since I simply suck at thinking of names .) it would be greatly appreciated. Thanx!**


	11. Chapter 10: Choices

**Hey people! Well here's the update where I'm going to explain how the hell I got Yami from uber-powerful demonic prince to measly mortal that got beat up by his father... man, his life-style didn't really improve huh? Yeah, thought so too. Well, hope you enjoy and R&R!!

* * *

**

--: 10 :--  
Choices

Yami froze his eyes wide and his jaw slack. His son? He'd been a demon? But why wasn't he one now then? What had happened? This was all just so confusing!

"Yami, don't listen to him. I mean, oh fuck." Yuugi glared at the demon smirking in front of him, "If I had the power, you'd die right now."

"Many angels have said that, yet I still live." Aknunkanon's smirk just widened and he turned back to Yami to see the confused and disbelieving look on the other's face.

"But… how? Why? What?" Yami shook his head, trying to get rid of all the confusing thoughts tumbling over each other. He had absolutely no idea what to believe anymore, and someone could probably convince him that he was really a chicken right now.

"Confused why you were changed into a measly mortal? Well then let me tell you. You were ruthless and didn't care who you had to kill, as long as you could just see blood flowing. Angel blood in particular seemed to draw your attention though, and you loved to hunt those ugly creatures and torture them. There was just one mistake you made, and that was when you caught a particular angel. She was beautiful and loved by all, not just because her heart was pure or because she was the fairest of all, but also because she the lover of God himself."

"You had such fun hunting her, driving her insane with nothing but taunting and mocking. She cried all the way through the last part of your little hunt, and the real pain hadn't even started yet."

"As the hunt ended though, and you finally managed to trap her in a forest in Celestia, the angel kingdom, you hadn't noticed a new presence that was looking for this beautiful woman. Just as you killed her, God came into the clearing and watched horrified as you took away his lover's life, knowing that when angels die, they simply stop existing since they were already dead in the first place."

"God was enraged, and a great fight between the two of you followed. Even God with all his power could've never beaten you, you were simply to fast, cunning, and strong, but his anger gave him the boost he needed and he managed to defeat you."

Aknunkanon glared at the sky as if God himself was there to receive it before he continued. "God did not kill you; the man is too merciful for his own good. Even though you had killed the person he most loved, he couldn't betray everything he stood for. Instead he decided to take an other approach."

"He purified your soul, erased all memories of what had ever happened to you, only leaving your character behind as this cannot be erased no matter what. He placed you into a mortal child to lead a life of sorrow and grief, a life that would hurt you as much as you had hurt others. You always wondered why you were being beaten up time after time by Yoru? Well this is the reason. It's all his sick way of punishing you."

Aknunkanon paused for a second, and smirked again, "What our dear little God didn't know though was that there was a way for you to regain the power that is still locked deep inside of you. If you accept my deal on this day, the day of your 18th birthday, then you will get back all the power you have lost because of that old bastard, and you will once again be the demonic heir, the Prince of all Demons."

Yami stared as Aknunkanon finally finished his story. This just couldn't be true. He couldn't be a demon! Could he? God the story of him being a chicken really did sound believable right now.

He held his head as a huge headache started to shoot through it. Why did this have to be so confusing? Why couldn't he be a normal teenager that had just turned 18?

Oh yeah, the story Aknunkanon had just explain kind of gave the answer to that question away.

Yami groaned at the headache, before looking at Yuugi. The boy had stayed silent throughout the entire tale, and was glaring at the ground at the moment. Surely Yuugi could tell him this demon was lying. As an ex-angel Yuugi would know of all this…

"Yuugi? Is… Is he speaking the truth?"

Yuugi clenched his eyes. He didn't want to tell Yami that it was all true. What did it matter? This had all happened in his previous life. Yami had changed; he wasn't a cold-hearted murderer anymore!

"Better tell him the truth, Angel. You don't want to lie to your dear boyfriend like you did before, now do you." Aknunkanon mocked, a triumphant smirk plastered to his face.

Yuugi sighed and looked up into desperate crimson-red eyes. Yami was obviously looking for a different answer than Yuugi was about to give him, but the ex-angel didn't have a choice.

"Yuugi?"

"It's true." Yami's eyes widened again and he took a step back. No… this couldn't be happening… this couldn't be true!

"Yuugi, please… no…"

Yuugi didn't respond, and looked back at the ground. So it was really true. He'd been a demon in his last life. He'd killed thousands, and he'd enjoyed every drop of blood that had fallen.

He stared at Yuugi, then at Aknunkanon. So this was his choice to make now. He could take Aknunkanon's deal and become what he had been before; a ruthless killing machine that took pleasure from other people's pain. Or he could refuse the deal, stay a mortal and live the life that had been given to him as a punishment for all the deaths he'd caused.

For some reason, the first option sounded more alluring than the second.

On the other hand. Life seemed to be going quite good for him at the moment. He had Yuugi, Yoru – even though the man had just destroyed one of his presents in a fit of rage – was leaving him alone a lot and the beatings had decreased as well.

Of course he still wanted to have his revenge on the other. He wanted to break away from the man responsible for destroying his life.

But was this really the best way to get that revenge? Wasn't there a more human way to get that didn't which include him losing his soul?

Yami clutched his head again, the headache only getting worse by the second. This was really confusing and hard. Why did choices always have to be so damned hard!

"Mi-chan?" Yami snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the only person that hadn't said anything since they had arrived. Kumiko was looking up at him with frightened, worried eyes, the usual bright smile nowhere to be found and the spark of happiness in her eyes dimmed to such an extent that you couldn't find it anymore.

Yami kneeled down and hugged the girl, feeling Kumiko cling to him desperately as she started to cry.

"You won't leave, will you? You promised you'd always be there to protect me! You promised!" Kumiko sobbed into her brother's shirt, crying her heart out. This entire conversation had done nothing but confuse her, and she still had no idea what was going on. The only thing she knew was that her brother might be leaving, and she didn't want that.

"Tenshi…" Yami hugged the girl closer to him. Could he really give up someone like Kumiko just for some power? Just for revenge? No, he would never be able to live with the thought of Kumiko being all alone, of him breaking that promise he had made so long ago, "I won't leave."

Aknunkanon's smirk vanished in record time as his jaw nearly dropped to the ground. Yuugi's head shot up to stare at Yami in shock. Both had though that Yami would take the deal, that he would find revenge more important than his humanity. Yuugi because he knew all too well how good Aknunkanon was in influencing other people into doing something they didn't want to do actually, and Aknunkanon because he thought the demonic, greedy character would shine through the human appearance.

Neither was correct.

Kumiko's eyes lit up again as she wiped away the tears in her eyes, "You really won't leave me?"

Yami smiled at her, "I could never leave you, Tenshi," he turned to face Yuugi, "or you." Yuugi immediately blushed, not only at the remark but also for ever doubting the other. How stupid could he be? Yami had changed and he was too stubborn to be tempted into something like this.

And of course Kumiko was a very persuasive person without even knowing it.

Aknunkanon stared in shock as Yuugi hugged both Yami and Kumiko. Yami had said no? He hadn't agreed to the deal? Had this life changed him that much?!

No, it didn't matter. As soon as he'd get Yami to agree to the deal, his son would return, the most feared demon of them all, and they would finally be able to kill the bastard who had done this in the first place. Of course, he did still have to get Yami to agree… which was a bit harder than it had first seemed.

Aknunkanon's expression turned too enraged as he watched the three, the 'damned angel' – as Aknunkanon was now calling him – laughing as Yami hugged him. He would stop this all too happy picture… but how?

His eye fell on Kumiko, the girl that had made Yami's mind up to stay in the end. This girl was really responsible for making sure Yami hadn't agreed. Aknunkanon found it only fitting – though ironical as well – that she would be the one to convince her brother to take the deal after all.

Yuugi turned to the furious demon with a bright smile on his face, though smugness was definitely there too, "I guess you lose, demon. Now why don't you go back to Hell where you belong?"

Aknunkanon's expression changed again, and he smirked, "But my existence is so lonely there, and now that my son isn't going with me, I guess I'll have to take a replacement for him."

Yuugi and Yami both blinked in confusion and stared at the man, but Aknunkanon just smirked. His eyes slowly wandered away from the two and rested on Kumiko, who was standing half behind her brother. Her eyes shower her fear and confusion, and she clutched onto Yami's arm as their eyes met.

Yami followed the gaze and landed on his sister as well, and his eyes instantly narrowed as anger sparked in them. Aknunkanon wanted to take Kumiko? No way was Yami going to allow that.

"Keep your hands of her! She has nothing to do with this!" Aknunkanon chuckled as Yami picked Kumiko up and held her close to him. Did he really think he'd be able to fight the demon overlord without his powers? Ha! Ridiculous. Only if Yami would accept his deal and regain his latent powers would he be able to do something like that. But then again, a soulless being didn't really care about others that much so Yami wouldn't bother anymore then.

"You think you can stop me?" Aknunkanon's expression turned to amused as Yuugi stepped in front of the two other's, a light golden aura already surrounding him and showing that he was ready to defend them. Aknunkanon would've burst into laughter at the sight; did that brat really think he had the power to stop a creature like him?

Aknunkanon's face turned wicked as he lunged forward. Yuugi magic responded immediately and tried to push him back, but Aknunkanon's own magic simply lashed out against it, negating it instantly. The purple-black magic lashed out again, this time throwing Yuugi to the side with ease, and Aknunkanon stopped mere inches in front of Yami.

"Did you really think you could do this? You're nothing but a mortal right now, a weak helpless human with no magic to defend himself. The only way you'll ever be able to beat me is by regaining what was taken from you." Aknunkanon's low whispered words flitted through Yami's mind as the other's fist connected to his stomach and he gasped loudly, wanting to clutch his aching stomach but not wanting to let go of Kumiko. Aknunkanon simply kicked his feet from under him, making him drop to the ground and let go of the little girl in his arms. He hit the ground with a 'thud' and groaned, opening his eyes only to have his world spin around him. He had obviously hit his head on the ground a bit too hard.

Kumiko crying out in fear and pain snapped him back to reality and he looked at the victoriously smirking Aknunkanon as he held Kumiko in his claws. The girl was struggling against the hold, but it only made the sharp nails dig into her skin further.

Yuugi jumped up and launched himself at Aknunkanon, but the purple swirling magic surrounding the demon held him back with ease. Yuugi growled as he tried desperately to get through, but the demon's magic was far stronger than his own.

"Kumiko…" Yami's eyes were wide as Aknunkanon brought the girl to his eyelevel. She clenched her eyes shut, tears streaming down her face as she refused to meet the demon's gaze.

"I wonder how a weakling and coward like you ever got to be the sister of someone as powerful as my son." Aknunkanon mused. His amusement of Yuugi trying to get through the magic shield around him grew as Yami joined in, trying desperately to get through the shadows. Aknunkanon smirked again as he threw Kumiko over his shoulder, and let Yami come close enough so he could almost touch them.

"If you ever want to see your sister alive again, you have to accept my deal. You have until the stroke of midnight, and all you have to do is call for me. I promise you that your sister won't be harmed, unless of course you refuse my deal completely." Aknunkanon smirked at the panic etched on Yami's face. His voice went even lower as he spoke his final words. "If you refuse, she won't live to see the next day."

The shadows pushed Yami back again, before engulfing an insanely laughing Aknunkanon and a crying Kumiko. Yami's wide eyes went even wider as he watched the shadows dissipate, taking his sister, his angel away from him.

"Ku… no… this…" Tears welt up in his eyes and Yami dropped to his knees. This was all _his_ fault. He hadn't been able to defend Kumiko. _He_ had let her down. It was _his_ fault that she might die now. He had to do something… but what? He couldn't just give in to the other's threat, could he? On the other hand, it would be selfish of him not to. Kumiko had done nothing wrong, this was between him and Aknunkanon, yet she had been the victim. If he didn't save her now, what kind of big brother would he be?

"Yami…" A hand was placed softly on his shoulder and Yami looked up into worried, sad amethyst eyes. Why hadn't Yuugi stopped Aknunkanon? Why hadn't Yuugi been there to protect them like last time?!

"Why… why didn't you save her?" Yami's tears were falling from his eyes freely now as he saw Yuugi's face grow sadder.

"I… couldn't…" Yuugi sighed as he sat down next to Yami and hugged the older teen. Yami sobbed into his shoulder as Yuugi stroked his back, "Aknunkanon is much stronger than I am, and his magic was keeping me away from them. I could've fired every spell I know but it still wouldn't have penetrated his magic…"

Yami just cried more. Then they had both failed Kumiko. It was their fault… and he'd have to do the only thing he could about it.

He pulled away, wiping his tears away to clear his blurred vision, and shakily stood up.

"What are you going to do, Yami?" Yuugi looked up at the other worriedly. Yami wasn't going to do what he thought the other was going to do right? No… Yami wouldn't just give in to Aknunkanon's threat…

"I'm going to give that bastard what he wants; me. If that's the only way to get Kumiko back then so be it. She doesn't deserve to be punished for something that is between me and that ass."

Yuugi's eyes widened and he stood up, "You can't do that! You'll lose your soul and then what? Do you think Kumiko wants you to kill people for fun? To have a brother that doesn't care about her the slightest bit? That might even kill her!"

"Aknunkanon said she'd be safe! Kumiko is getting hurt because I'm being too selfish!"

"Not wanting to lose your soul is not being selfish!"

"At least she'll be safe if I do this!"

Yuugi clenched his eyes and raised his hand, slapping Yami across the face as tears of his own threatened to fall from his eyes. Yami looked at him in shock as he cupped his cheek. "Yuugi?"

"Do you think I want to lose you? Do you think I want Kumiko-chan to get hurt? Do you fucking care even the slightest bit about what you'd be leaving behind in this world if you take that deal!" Yuugi's tears spilled from his eyes and he cried silently, his eyes clenched shut and his head bowed. Yami couldn't just give up on everything, not when everything had been going so well.

"But… Kumiko…" Yami looked down at the ground in shame. Yuugi was right. He couldn't just give up on life. If he really did accept that deal he'd lose Yuugi forever, and he probably would kill everyone in sight just as he had apparently done in his previous life. Who was to say that he wouldn't kill Kumiko and Yuugi? If he really was as strong as the other two said he was, there would be no one to stop him after all.

"We'll get her back." Yuugi looked up and stepped forward, hugging Yami tightly again. "We'll find a way."

Yami nodded, hugging Yuugi back and burying his face into the other's hair as tears continued to spill from his eyes. He silently vowed that he would get Kumiko back, and without accepting the deal Aknunkanon had offered him.

They stood there for a little while, just holding each other, comforting each other, until Yuugi finally pulled away and smiled slightly at Yami. "Come on, we better get back to your place if we want to get some sleep. No sense in going to Hell while we're tired."

Yami nodded and got up, though he was reluctant to go home. Yoru would be there, and he didn't exactly want to see the other yet… or ever again if he had a say in it. Yuugi sighed as he saw the reluctant look on Yami's face.

"Yoru stormed out of the house as well, though he went in a different direction. I don't think he'll be home yet. As for the present I gave you," he smiled, "I think I can still fix that."

Yami looked down and smiled sadly, "Thanks, Yuugi." The other nodded and they slowly walked home, leaving the park and going through the familiar streets of Domino. As they got to Yami's house, they could hear sound inside. Yami's shoulders slumped; so his father was home after all huh? Damn, that really just sucked.

Yuugi opened the door and peeked into the living room curiously. This couldn't be Yoru. There was more than one aura, and those were being hidden so Yuugi couldn't sense who they were. Yoru couldn't do that, so who was in Yami's house? And how did they get in?

Yuugi's eyes widened as someone ripped the door open and tackled him, making them both fall to the ground as an all too familiar voice to him rambled on.

"Yuugi… who are they?" Yami looked at Yuugi first, before switching his gaze to the three newcomers. All three were wearing similar robes as Yuugi had been wearing that one time he'd used all his power, though the designs on the silk white robes were different for each of them. Also, the feather white wings he had missed with Yuugi were very much present with these three, only they were neatly folded behind their backs so they wouldn't be bothered by them. Okay, so there were three angels in his house, and one of them was hugging his boyfriend to death…. Yep, this evening really couldn't get any crazier.

* * *

**And that's it, and even if you can call this a cliffhanger - which I can't really - then it's only a small one. I think just about anyone will know who at leat one of the three is that are making their entrence here so yeah. Anyway, hope you can all stand to not read my little fic for another week and I'll see you all next Saturday! Please Review!**


	12. Chapter 11: Hell

Heya people. Here's the next chappie to the oh-so-wonderful cliffhanger-filled Hold On °grins° So yeah, I think you all know what's coming t the end now °looks innocently° Anyway, try and enjoy the chap while you can and R&R! **

* * *

**

**--: 11 :--  
Hell**

"You mean Yuugi didn't tell you about us?" the platinum blonde took an overdramatic pose that Yami couldn't help but sweat drop at, "How could you Yuugi! I thought you were our friend!"

Yuugi pushed the still rambling blonde off him and rolled his eyes, "Well sorry Malik, if I hadn't expected to ever see you again," a bright smile broke through on his face, "though I am happy to see you guys."

"You better be," The blonde now sitting next to him on the ground snorted, "we came all da way here for ya so you better be happy about it."

Yami slowly stepped forward and looked at his boyfriend. This night had been one surprise after another, and his head was hurting because of all the confusion, "Yuugi?"

Yuugi giggled at Yami's expression, "These are my friends from when I was still an angel. This is Joey," Yuugi pointed to the blonde that had nearly choked him earlier, "that's Malik," Yuugi pointed at the platinum blonde, "and the quiet one is Ryou," the white haired boy was pointed at. All three grinned as Yuugi was about to introduce Yami.

"Oh don't worry, Yuugi. We know who this is." Malik grinned as he walked over, checking Yami out from all sides and whistling, "And did I mention you have good taste?"

Yuugi blushed bright crimson. Well Malik obviously hadn't changed yet. The other was still a teasing slightly psycho teen who just couldn't help but get his friends into trouble.

"Malik, don't tease Yuugi." Ryou shook his head as he walked over to the smirking blonde and pulled him back to the couch, before pushing him onto it, "We've only just gotten here and you're already starting this?"

Joey grinned, "Course he is, Ryou. You know what Malik's like ne?"

Yuugi pouted, letting Yami wrap his arms around his waist in a comforting manner, "Sadly enough I still remember exactly what Malik's like. And here I was hoping he might've changed."

"Never!" Malik punched the air with a proud grin on his face, "I'll never surrender to the boring side!" Again an over dramatic pose. Yami decided to crown Malik drama-queen from now on.

Ryou shook his head again, before motioning for them all to sit down with a bit more serious look on his face. The three teen standing – or in Joey's case sitting – in the hallway all came over and sat down on the couch. Yuugi gave them all a curious look. "So why are you guys here? I mean it's not like I'm complaining, but I thought the rules forbade you from seeing me the minute I left Heaven to help Yami."

"Well da rules do, but da big man's been keeping an eye on you and he decided dat you two could use some help." Joey smiled, "So we're here ta help!"

Yuugi blinked, "God's been watching me? Why?"

"Well for one, the person you gave everything up for happens to be the reincarnation of the most powerful and ruthless demon that has ever lived," Malik was elbowed in the side sharply by Ryou at that remark, and everyone could see Yami averting his eyes. Malik mentally cursed himself for talking before thinking once again.

"Excuse Malik for that, he tends to speak before thinking." Yami slowly looked back and gave them all a weak smile.

"Well I kind of have to start accepting it ne? It's why I'm in the mess I'm in at the moment."

"Well ya can't really do anythin' about it," Joey shrugged, "da reason why God's lettin' us help ya out is 'cause he thinks you've changed and deserve a bit of happiness. When you refused ta take Aky's deal, ya showed dat you weren't a greedy ugly demon bastard anymore, and dat you've learned from dis life. In short, we're here ta help ya kick Aky's butt and get your sis back."

Yuugi's smile came back as he was the one tackling Joey this time, "You guys are the best!"

Joey laughed as he hugged his friend back and looked at Yami for a second. He grinned at the jealous expression crossing the other's face, though the crimson-eyed teen didn't say or do anything. "I think your boyfriend's gettin' jealous Yuug, so you better go give him a hug too."

Yuugi turned his head to see a slight blush on Yami's face, and giggled as he could indeed see the jealousy in the other's eyes. He quickly stood up and walked over to Yami, sitting in the other's lap as he snuggled into the strong chest and sighed happily. The other three in the room couldn't help but 'aw' as Yami wrapped his arms around Yuugi protectively and smiled.

"You two are cute together," Malik grinned as Yuugi blushed again, "but we're going to have to interrupt the scene though, since you two need sleep. You do have to be rested if we want to go kick some demon ass tomorrow."

Yami chuckled, "Well I guess you're right, though I don't know exactly where I'm going to leave you… if my father comes home to see three angels in the living room I think he'll freak… though I think that'd be pretty funny to see actually."

Malik chuckled at the smirk on Yami's face, before shaking his head, "Mortals aren't supposed to know that we're here, so we can't really do that."

Ryou thought for a second, before he shyly and hesitantly looked up at Yami, "Would you mind if we used Kumiko-chan's bedroom?"

Yami's eyes dimmed for a second at once again being reminded that his little sister was really gone, before pushing the thoughts aside. He was going to get her back no matter what happened. A weak smile once again crossed his face, "Sure, her room is upstairs, second door to the right."

All three angels nodded and Joey and Malik got up, already starting towards the bedroom, as Ryou rolled his eyes at the two.

"Aren't you two forgetting something?" Joey and Malik turned around and stared at Ryou blankly, obviously having no idea what their friend was talking about. "Yuugi's powers ring a bell?"

Malik and Joey stared blankly for another second, before understanding spread across their faces. "Oh yeah." Was all they said. Ryou sweat dropped, before turning to Yuugi.

"Since we're going to be fighting demons and using your powers after you've given up being an angel is very tiring, God has given us permission to do something else." He motioned for Yuugi to come stand by him, as Joey and Malik walked back as well.

Yuugi and Yami gave each other questioning glances before Yuugi slowly got out of Yami's lap and walked over to his old friends. All three surrounded him, taking each other's hands and closing their eyes. Yami could see a golden aura engulfing all four of them as incoherent words were mumbled softly. Okay… so what was going on?

The auras slowly retreated and the light dimmed to reveal Yuugi once again standing there in the angelic clothing he'd been wearing that one time he'd saved Yami and Kumiko from that gang. The only difference between now and then were the two large feather wings that were now sprouting from his back. Yami gasped at the sight; Yuugi had just become more cute and beautiful than he had already been… and Yami had thought that to be impossible.

Yuugi's eyes widened as he felt the familiar surge of power and magic flow through his body again. He looked down at himself wide-eyed to see his angel robes back on as his wings flowed around him gracefully. He looked back at his friends to see them opening their eyes and grinning at his shocked form.

"Ya got your powers back buddy." Joey slapped the younger on the back playfully, "Now ya can really kick some demon ass!"

Yuugi smiled brightly again and pulled all three of his friends into a group hug, thanking each of them over and over. Yuugi had missed the familiar feel of his magic protecting him as well as the ability to fly. When an angel decided to live on Earth, thereby becoming mortal, they kept a piece of their power – although most of it was no longer available and using the magic that they still had, cost a lot of energy – but they lost their wings. This had been the reason why Yuugi hadn't had any wings when he had saved Kumiko and Yami; he simply didn't have any.

Yuugi let go of his friends and turned back to Yami only to blush as he was met with a slightly lust-filled gaze. It seemed Yami approved very much of this form.

Yami smirked at the blush and slowly walked over to Yuugi, swaying his hips from side to side seductively. He could see Yuugi's eyes glued to him as the other swallowed. "I believe it's time to go to bed, Aibou," he purred. He could see Malik trying to stifle his laughter behind Yuugi's back, obviously amused at his friend's flustered state. Yami just smirked all the more as he stood in front of Yuugi, "Come on."

Yami swiftly took Yuugi into his arms bridal-style, making the boy yelp in surprise and blush even more red. That was enough to make Malik burst out in laughter as Joey snickered and Ryou just blushed.

"Y-Yami!" Yami shut the other up by kissing him while walking back up the stairs. Yuugi quickly melted into the kiss and pushed himself closer, ignoring Malik's laughter.

As the two left, Joey sighed, "Dey really are a cute couple, ain't they?"

"Yeah, though I think Yami was just teasing Yuugi just now." Malik grinned, "I really do like Yuugi's taste."

Ryou shook his head, "You two are hopeless," he sighed, "Let's just go to bed okay? It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

All three nodded and went up the stairs to Kumiko's room though Malik couldn't help but smirk as they passed what was obviously Yami's room. Soft moans could be heard from inside and not just from their long time friend either.

* * *

"Why da hell has it been so easy ta get inta dis place so far?" 

The entire group glanced back at their blonde companion and frowned, the same thought crossing all their minds. They were in Hell at the moment, hiding near the palace where Aknunkanon obviously lived. The only suspicious thing was that they hadn't run into a single demon yet. Sure, there had been some close calls here and there, but even those were very little. Shouldn't Hell be heavily guarded or something? If these were all the defences Hell offered against attacks, then one single attack from Heaven would completely destroy this place.

"It's a trap." They turned to face their human companion. Yami was staring at the castle, his eyes fixed on the front door and the demons patrolling around it.

"Ya mean he knows we're here? But how? We've been very careful not ta get spotted." Joey frowned and also looked at the castle. Why would Aknunkanon let them come into Hell this easily? Shouldn't they be attacked by now or something by a huge army of demons?

Yami snorted, "It's logical that he'd keep an eye on me as he wants me so badly ne? He's obviously been following my life or he wouldn't have known Kumiko meant so much to me. He knows we're here alright, and he wants us to reach him so he can kill us all personally."

"Guess you're lucky then, huh Yami." Yuugi smiled wryly, "Since you're the one he's after, he probably won't kill you."

"Oh I think that if I keep refusing him, he'll kill me alright." Yami gaze finally came to land on the group standing in front of them, "But I really am serious. If we were to walk up to those guards right there, they'd either let us pass while pretending not to see us, or they'd bring us straight to Aknunkanon."

"Well let's not test that theory. For all we know we've just been lucky." Malik sighed, "Come on, we better keep going or they really will find us."

All nodded, and they made their way around the castle, trying to find a way to get in. The only possibility was to fly in through a back window. All sweat dropped at that option.

"Okay, so he really is expectin' us." Joey mumbled. This really was too easy, and this really wasn't just dumb luck.

"Yeah, and he's making it quite obvious too. He's just daring us to come for him." Ryou sighed and turned to the group. "So are we going to take the bait?"

Yami scowled, "I don't care if it's a trap. He has Kumiko and I want her back."

The other's looked at each other hesitantly. Of course they had been sent to help Yami with this, but they had counted on the element of surprise to overwhelm the demonic ruler. Now that they had lost that slight advantage…

"Dis is gonna be more dangerous now, ya know." Joey sighed and looked straight into Yami's eyes, "maybe it'd be safer if you stayed here. You have no magic to defend yourself with, and we won't be able to protect ya all da time."

Yami glared at the blond, "I'm the last person of this group that he'll hurt, and this is my sister we're talking about. I'm going with you whether you like it or not."

Joey glared back at him, "He can still use you against us by capturin' ya. If you would just stay here and-"

"I'm not staying here!"

"Yuug, will you please explain to your boyfriend that he can't come!"

"Keep Yuugi out of this!"

Yuugi, Ryou, and Mallik sweat dropped at the two arguing teens. "So how long do you think they'll go on?" Malik glanced at the other two questioningly. Ryou rubbed his temple to stop the upcoming headache as much as possible. He was getting annoyed by Joey and Yami's behaviour. Yami was too careless, and Joey was too protective, and those attitudes had been clashing the entire way. He was getting annoyed, and that didn't happen a lot."

"Will you two just shut up!" Joey and Yami turned to a frustrated Ryou. Ryou sighed as shook his head, the headache shooting through his head already. "Thank you. Yami, you need to be more careful of what you do around here. Even though you are the person Aknunkanon is after, these demons might still hurt you."

Joey smirked, "Ha!"

"Joey, I'm not done yet. You have to trust Yami a bit more to take care of himself. He's been doing that for the past 18 years just fine."

Now it was Yami's turn to smirk, though he kept quiet as he'd gotten reprimanded himself as well.

"Now that we've got that settled. Yami, you can come with us but promise us that you'll be careful and stay away from the fight? If you get hurt Yuugi will kill us all, and I simply hate to see people die."

Yami nodded slowly, "Alright, I'll be careful as long as you take me with you."

Joey just scowled, obviously not agreeing to this plan. Ryou ignored the glare that was being thrown at him, and simply turned towards the castle. "Well come on then."

All angels except for Yuugi spread their wings – though Joey was still grumbling under his breath – and flew up to the open window, still being careful to not be seen. Yuugi walked up to Yami, "You sure you want to come with us?" His face held concern for his lover. Yuugi didn't want Yami to get hurt, and coming with them to the fight made him worry about that.

Yami smiled gently, unlike with Joey staying calm. "Don't worry about me, Aibou. I said I'll be careful and I will. I just want to be there, I want to see Kumiko."

Yuugi sighed and smiled back at Yami, taking the other into his arms and flying up to follow his friends. "If you get hurt, I'll kill you."

Yami chuckled as he tightened his hold on the other, leaning closer to the other's ear so he could whisper – or more like purr – into it, "Well it that happens, I'll just have to change your mind…" Yuugi blushed at the suggestive tone, but refused to answer to it right now. Besides, he could already see Malik looking at him amusedly. Continuing this conversation would only amuse the other even more. In Yuugi's opinion, it was very bad to amuse Malik with stuff like this.

Man, Malik really needed to get a boyfriend of his own, and _fast_.

Without giving Malik the chance to comment on the furious blush on his cheeks, Yuugi quickly set Yami down on the ground and started to walk into the direction of the strongest aura in the castle, "We better hurry guys. No time to waste."

Malik pouted at the lost chance of teasing Yuugi, but supposed staying alive was a bit more important than the fun he would've gotten out of that. He sighed and followed Yuugi, the rest of the group close behind him. Malik, Ryou, and Joey surrounded Yami – something that irked Yami slightly though he didn't comment on it – to keep the other out of as much trouble as possible, though it didn't seem like they would be running into any. The castle seemed strangely deserted, and the only aura that could be sensed was the one obviously belonging to Aknunkanon. Man, the demonic overlord really wasn't trying to hide that this was a trap huh? Seriously that just sucked, and it made all of them more nervous by the second.

They came to two large ebony doors, the aura directly behind it. Well this was probably the throne room then. As soon as they went through these doors, there would be no turning back, although they all doubted that leaving would be that easy. It would definitely be harder than getting in.

They all gave each other one last uncomfortable glance, taking a deep breath, before Yuugi pushed the doors open to reveal a beautifully decorated large room. Aknunkanon was evil, but he definitely had taste.

In the middle of the room was a large black throne with someone sitting in it. Shadows concealed who the person was, but all knew it was Aknunkanon. The powerful aura and the fact that he was sitting in a throne kind of gave it away.

Behind the throne was a cage hanging from the ceiling. It strangely resembled a bird's cage, only much bigger. In the cage lay Kumiko, unconscious but seemingly unharmed otherwise. Yami's eyes still widened though as he saw her red eyes. She'd been crying, and she was still hugging her knees to her body as she lay on her side. Yami shut his eyes for a second, reminding himself for the umpteenth time that this wasn't his fault as Yuugi had said last night. It was very hard to tell yourself that though if you were in the state Yami as in at the moment. The theory that he was really a chicken _still_ seemed more likely than what he'd been told.

"I'm glad you could all come," Aknunkanon stepped into the light and smirked as all four angels rushed forward to stand in front of Yami, "because I simply love the screams of angels in the morning."

Without saying another word or the slightest warning, Aknunkanon launched forward, heading straight for the four angels defending their human friend, and ready to tear each of them apart.

* * *

**Okay, I just wanna say that I adore the way I write Malik °grins° gotta love him to bits like this. Further more, you can all _not_ kill me over the cliffie cuz... well just because you can't. So there. °stick out tongue childishly° Anyway, please Review!**


	13. Chapter 12: Fight of Angels

**Hello everyone! Here is the mean Leila 'Cliffhanger Queen' Logan AKA Moondalian for you once more! Okay, so I'm sick (I swear, IN A WEEKEND?!?! How bad can my timing be?), my head is trying to split itself in two, my throat hurst, and I just plainly feel sick. Do review to tell me how much you feel for me. R&R!**  
**

* * *

**

**--: 12 :--  
Fight of Angels**

Golden magic lashed out as Aknunkanon attacked, the magic reacting on it's own as an automatic defence. Aknunkanon simply fought his way through it, though he had quite some trouble. It seemed these four worked together excellently, which would make it a lot more difficult to kill them all. The magic of one would defend another without even the slightest hesitation, so he couldn't take them out one by one. He'd have to wear them out, and then kill them all at once.

He smirked. That was just fine by him. Like this he'd have time to play with his prey, and it would only increase their suffering in the end.

The dark shadow-like magic clashed with the golden, neither giving in but allowing both sides to test how far they could go with the other. All four angels could feel the incredible power radiating from the demonic overlord, and gulped silently at realizing what they were really up against. They could feel that the demon was still holding back his power, yet he was already gaining territory. It wouldn't be long before the demon would be in range for an attack.

Yuugi winced as his magic was partly whipped to the side by a shadowy tendril. This wouldn't work. If they wanted to win this they couldn't simply keep trying to keep Aknunkanon at a distance, they'd have to actually attack as well.

He let his magic fade away from the magic defence he and the other's had created – giving Aknunkanon an even bigger overweight – and closed his eyes, concentrating on a spell that might do some damage. As soon as the spell was fired, the entire magic defence vanished to make way for the spell. Aknunkanon rushed right into it since there was no longer something trying to stop him, and the spell hit him dead on. The only thing it did though was stop the demon in slight surprise. All angels stared as the spell hadn't even left the smallest bruise.

"Was that all?" Aknunkanon laughed, "Well then I guess you'll be dying sooner than I thought!" He created a ball of his magic in his hand and threw it straight at Yuugi. Yuugi's own magic responded, combined with the magic of his friends and diverted the ball easily. They might be weaker individually, but together they could pack a punch.

Yami sighed in relief as the Shadowball hadn't hit Yuugi. He had jumped backwards when the fight had begun, and was watching with awe as it continued, though worry could also be clearly found on his face. He watched as Aknunkanon charged at his friends again, the golden magic this time easily being penetrated and all four angels being thrown aside by one strong swipe of Aknunkanon's claws.

Was this the power he'd also possessed in his pervious life? Aknunkanon had said that he'd been the strongest, most ruthless demon there was. So had he been even stronger than this? It seemed almost impossible. He had no idea how, but he could somehow sense the magic radiating off everyone fighting. Aknunkanon was stronger than even all four angels combined, though it would certainly take him quite a bit of trouble to beat them if they kept working together. Yami frowned at how he could actually sense all of that. He'd heard Yuugi talking about sensing auras, but how could he do it? He wasn't a demon anymore.

Or was his power awakening since they were in Hell?

Yami shook his head. No, he wasn't a bloodthirsty demon anymore. He was a human now, and he wouldn't become a demon anymore either as long as he didn't accept Aknunkanon's deal.

Though he swore to himself that he'd sooner accept that deal, then let Yuugi and the other's die because of his fight and problems.

Yami winced as Malik was thrown against a wall painfully, leaving a big crater where he'd hit it. Malik groaned as he slid to the ground and growled as he got up again, a glare on his determined face. Malik loved to tease people, but he had a temper to be reckoned with. It seemed that each of the angels had their own ability that worked together if they fought as a team. Was that why God had sent these three instead of stronger angels? Because if these four worked together they formed some kind of team that protected each other?

Malik seemed to be the fiercest of them all. Bad tempered and good on the offence. His spells were the strongest, and he seemed to have the most energy of all too.

Ryou wasn't much for fighting, although he did fire attacks. His thing seemed to be more along the lines of healing, as his spells weren't always fired at Aknunkanon. The spells he fired at his friends seemed to heal the so far small wounds they had, and slightly replenish their energy. He also seemed to be more of a defensive fighter, creating the strongest shields out of everyone in the group.

Yuugi was more strategically. With simple hand signs he seemed to tell everyone what to do, and all the others reacted to it without question. Each time Yuugi made a sign and one of the other angels fired an attack, it actually hit Aknunkanon, though Yuugi had yet to find a real weak point.

Joey was the quickest and was the one that distracted Aknunkanon as much as possible from the other three or from an attack if it had been fired. He flew around taking a lot of risks by going near Aknunkanon, though his speed saved him each time.

Together their magic worked to protect each other, not letting one get hurt if something could be done about it. It didn't even seem like they were thinking about it, it was more like an automatic response.

Yami had to be impressed by the teamwork, and he was pretty sure that it was the only reason why they had even laid a hand on Aknunkanon. Individually they wouldn't stand the slightest chance, but together they could accomplish a lot.

Yuugi made a new sign with his hands, and Joey immediately dived forward, heading straight for Aknunkanon. The demonic ruler's attention focused on the blonde, as a new Shadowball appeared in his hand. Before he had a chance of firing it though, Malik's fist connected with his head and threw him off balance, the Shadowball in his hand exploding and only hurting Aknunkanon further. Joey and Malik gave each other a quick high-five, before scrambling out of reach. Yami had to smirk at the sight of a madly glaring Aknunkanon, as the man was obviously going mad with all the angels attacking him.

Yami suddenly heard his name being called and he looked into the direction of the cage Kumiko was in. His eyes widened as he saw the girl sitting on the ground looking straight at him, her eyes filled with tears and fear. Yami immediately ran over to her, almost being hit by a Shadowball but not caring.

"Kumiko!" He grabbed the bars of the cage but immediately let go as black electricity rushed through him. Okay, so touching the bars was a very bad thing.

"I-I'm s-scared, Mi-chan." Kumiko cried, her arms still wrapped around her legs as she sat in the middle of the prison, staying as far away from the bars as possible.

Yami sighed and looked back at the fight. There was nothing he could do as long as Aknunkanon still lived, and this fight could go on for quite some time. He scowled in irritation at being so helpless. If he only had the power to help…

Damnit, he couldn't think like that. The only way to get power was to become a demon again, and he couldn't do that!

"M-Mi-chan?" Yami sighed again and looked at the girl sadly.

"I'm sorry, Tenshi. But I can't do anything. Yuugi and his friends are the only ones that can get you out of there…" His gaze shifted back to the fight, not able to see his little sister starting to cry again. God how he wished that he could help…

Yuugi made a new signal and Joey once more started a distraction. Aknunkanon seemed to have learned from all the times he'd been attacked so far though, and not only concentrated on Joey, but also on Malik. What he hadn't expected was Yuugi and Ryou combining their magic and hitting the demon in his back. As Aknunkanon turned to glare at the two, Malik finally attacked, using a spell to hit Aknunkanon hard enough to blast him into the ground below.

Yuugi smirked. He wasn't that cliché, and he knew that he couldn't keep using the same tactics over and over again, especially when it came to someone like Aknunkanon. Did the demon really think that he was that dumb?

Apparently he did.

Aknunkanon rose from the ground, a glare on his face that promised nothing but pain. "That's it! I've had it with you four!" With speed Joey could never hope to achieve, Aknunkanon flew up and grabbed the first angel he could get his hands on. Joey was unlucky enough to be that angel.

Without giving the other's time to react and save their friend, Aknunkanon let Shadow Magic course through his veins and enter Joey's body. The golden magic flared out to protect Joey, but the Shadows had already entered Joey's body.

"Fear's cage!" Aknunkanon laughed as he let Joey's body go. The angel didn't do anything though, not even flap his wings to keep him in the air. His eyes were wide and held a petrified look to them, as if the teen was in so much fear that he couldn't even move a single muscle.

All three other angels cried out as Joey dropped to the floor, only being caught by Malik just in time. If he had been even two seconds later Joey would've hit the ground with full force, and in the state the blonde was at the moment it might have killed him.

Yuugi sighed in relief at seeing that his friend was relatively safe, and glared at Aknunkanon as Ryou flew over to try and heal Joey. "What did you do to him?!"

Aknunkanon simply smirked victoriously, letting Ryou go help his blonde friend as the demon already knew no one could break the curse he had just cast except he himself.

"Me? I just cast a little curse on him as you've been doing spells on me the entire time. He's trapped in his greatest fears, and he can't get out. The only ways to get out of this spell is if I let him, if I get killed, or if he faces each and every one of them." The demon glanced at the whimpering angel in amusement. "He has quite some fears; he'll never get out of this by himself."

Yuugi growled as he glanced at Ryou, seeing the helpless look on the white-haired angel's face. Damn, this was bad. If Aknunkanon did this to each of them, there'd be no way for them to defend themselves. It didn't seem like Joey's magic was even responding to theirs even, which meant less power for them.

Yuugi shot one last glare at Aknunkanon before quickly flying to his friends. Aknunkanon watched him mockingly, not bothering to stop him. One by one he'd put them in the same state as he had put Joey, until only the look-alike of his son was left. That would be the last one Yami would see going into a state of pure fear, and the first to actually die. Of course he'd give Yami the chance of saving them all first by joining him as a demon again. If Yami refused, he'd first kill off the angels, then simply go on to that little brat that was currently trapped in a cage.

Yuugi stopped as he reached his friends, looking at each of them with a serious look that didn't seem to suit his big eyes. "Put Joey on the ground, Malik. There's nothing we can do for him right now. That bastard cast a curse that trapped him in his greatest fears, and there's no way Joey's getting out of all of them. If we want to help him, we have to beat Aknunkanon."

Malik growled and glared up at the demon ruler, before laying Joey on the ground carefully, giving the other a worried look as the blonde curled up and whimpered more.

"So what now? We had enough trouble with him when Joey could still help, but now it's going to be near impossible." Ryou sighed in frustration, looking at the ground hopelessly. This was bad and getting worse by the second.

"I know, but we have to try. We can't exactly escape so we'll have to fight no matter what." Yuugi's eyes showed determination as he looked at both his other friends. Both angels nodded and they flew up again. Yuugi had no idea how the spell that Aknunkanon had used worked, but if he had to guess he'd say that Aknunkanon had to hold the person he was casting the curse on. Great, so if they couldn't get near the other anymore, the only other option was firing spells from a distance. It would be a lot harder to win like that though, as Aknunkanon's physical defence seemed to be lower than his magical.

A few new hand signals and Malik and he started a new attack, though staying away from the demon this time. Aknunkanon snorted. Did they really think they could still win? Or even stay away from him enough to not be hit by his curse? Fools. He was stronger and faster than each of them. He could get to any of them faster than their magic could start defending, so there was no escape. A wicked smirk graced his lips as he saw Yuugi fire quite a powerful magic attack at him. He dodged to the side, though he hadn't expected Malik to be ready with a new attack for him. Aknunkanon barely managed to dodge that one, but was hit by one fired by Ryou.

The demon growled. Damnit, even with one gone the three remaining ones could still work together and hit him without that much trouble. Well, then he guessed he'd just have to take out a new one. Now which would be the best to go first; the blonde or the white-haired one?

Although the blonde was the one with the strongest attacks, those would only last as long as his energy. That energy was being replenished by the white-haired one each time… Well that settled it; the pale one was going down next.

As he saw Yuugi make some new signs – he was surprised the others understood what they meant as he'd been watching them for a while now, but still didn't understand a single one of them – he sensed Malik firing an attack from behind, Ryou one from his left side, and Yuugi one from his right side. Aknunkanon scowled. It was obvious that this wasn't all there was to this plan – either that or Yuugi was running out of ideas, but he doubted that – but he couldn't figure out what their next moves would be. Instead of simply dodging and walking into their trap though, he flew straight at the spell Ryou had fired.

Ryou's eyes widened as he saw Aknunkanon coming straight at him, the spell he'd fired simply being deflected by the Shadow Magic of the demon. He tried to get away as he heard his friend call out for him, but Aknunkanon had already grabbed him and there was no way of escaping the demon's grasp.

Aknunkanon let his shadows enter Ryou's body, smirking insanely as the boy's eyes widened and his body tensed. The white feather wings on his back stopped beating, and the struggle the boy had been putting up instantly ceased. Aknunkanon could hear and feel Malik and Yuugi trying to get to their friend, though his shadows were stopping them from coming any closer. He chuckled as he turned to the two still conscious furious angels. "You want him? Fine, here he is." He tossed Ryou to the two others as if he'd been nothing more than a rag doll, and smirked.

Yuugi grabbed Ryou the second the angel had left the shadowy aura. He cursed under his breath as he saw the form of his pale friend shaking in fear, eyes clenched tightly and whimpers escaping his lips.

"We have to do something about this. He's picking us out one by one…" Yuugi hated to hear a desperate note in his friend's usually confident and playful voice, but he couldn't help but agree to the pessimism. They really were just like sitting ducks, just waiting to be shot by a hunter.

"I won't give up." Yuugi muttered under his breath, flying to the ground and laying Ryou down next to Joey, before flying back up to Malik.

"We can't give up, Malik. We just can't." Malik gave Yuugi one hesitant glance, but at seeing the determined look in those amethyst orbs, he nodded, his own confidence returning to him.

"Okay Yuugi, let's go beat this bastard!"

Aknunkanon laughed at those words, "You really think the two of you can still win? Ha! You couldn't even beat me when all four of you were still conscious. Don't make me laugh."

Yuugi glared. "I don't care if you're so much stronger! I won't give up!" he'd promised, he'd promised Yami he wouldn't give up and that he'd get Kumiko back. He was _not_ going to break his promise.

"Then come and get me." Yuugi and Malik both launched forward, figuring that Aknunkanon would get them whether they stayed away from him or came close. Malik managed to land a punch in Aknunkanon's stomach shallowly before being thrown back by the shadows, and Yuugi was thrown back even before he could land a single punch. Both regrouped and formed an attack together that was strong enough to penetrate the shadows protecting Aknunkanon, but the attack was deflected by a simply wave of Aknunkanon's arms. Yuugi and Malik growled and tried again, only getting the same result.

They split up, firing spell after spell from different angles. But even though Aknunkanon had trouble keeping up with the two, he dodged each and every spell. Without Ryou there to replenish their energy, it wasn't long before they were both panting heavily, their energy levels low and decreasing with every second.

Aknunkanon laughed again. "You see? It's useless to try and beat me. I'm the most powerful demon! The only one that can rival my power is standing down there!" Aknunkanon pointed to a helplessly looking Yami, a look of worry and fear on his face.

Yuugi glared, "Leave Yami out of this!"

Aknunkanon chuckled, "If you'd forgotten, this fight is about him. But if you don't want to talk, I'll just take your last friend away as well."

Yuugi's eyes widened as he saw Aknunkanon grab Malik, again going so fast there was no way any magic or physical responses could've happened. He closed his eyes as he saw Malik undergoing the same process as his two other friends. Now he was the only one still fighting. He was the only one who could stop Aknunkanon and save everyone. But how? He was just alone; he couldn't do anything against this.

For the first time the full truth hit him in the face. There was no way he could win. There hadn't been a way to win from the start. Aknunkanon had always been stronger than them, physically and magically, and they'd been doomed the minute they entered Hell.

He opened his eyes again to see Aknunkanon throwing Malik to the ground. The platinum-blonde was lucky that Aknunkanon hadn't been that far up, so the fall barely hurt him even in the state he was in now. Yuugi still winced though, realizing he'd soon be joining his friends.

He didn't do anything as he sensed Aknunkanon coming closer, didn't struggle as he felt the demon's hands wrap around his throat, and didn't even look up as he heard the other laugh maniacally.

"Well at least you're smart enough to see that it's really hopeless, although it did take you long enough." Aknunkanon merely smirked at the angel in his grasp, "Any last words you'd like to say to your lover?"

Yuugi finally looked up sadly, though he didn't pay any attention to Aknunkanon's smirking form. His gaze went to Yami, wanting the other to be the last thing he saw. He could see the panic and anger in Yami's eyes, hear the desperate shouts from the other's lips, and sense the teen's distraught, but he couldn't do anything… he was too weak.

"I'm sorry… Yami." Yami couldn't believe his eyes or ears. Yuugi was really giving up. What had Aknunkanon done to the cheerful determined teen he'd fallen in love with?

He could do nothing as he heard Aknunkanon shout: 'Fear's cage!'. He could only watch as Yuugi's eyes widened in fear, before closing completely. He heard Aknunkanon laugh as the demon released Yuugi from his grip. Yami ran forward, catching Yuugi in his arms and clutching the other to his body desperately.

"No… Yuugi… Aibou… Please no." Yami's eyes clenched as he felt tears stinging in his eyes. Yuugi and his friends had wanted to help him even though it wasn't their problem, and look at where that had gotten them. He'd finally found friends, and now this happened! Yuugi was being taken away from him… Aknunkanon would surely kill them all now that they were defenceless. He couldn't let this happen! He just couldn't!

"Well, now that that's been taken care of, the real fun can begin!" Aknunkanon grinned insanely as he looked at all his victims. "Killing them all! Now who shall I start with? You know, maybe I'll just start with… _her_."

Yami's eyes shot open as Aknunkanon said that. There was only one girl in this room, and that was Kumiko. He could hear the girl crying harder; see Aknunkanon flying towards her cage. He wouldn't… he couldn't… _not_ Kumiko!

"No, leave her alone!" Yami clutched Yuugi to his chest as he watched Aknunkanon cast a spell, making the cage disappear and the girl fall to the ground. Kumiko cried harder, the fear in her eyes growing as Aknunkanon grabbed her.

Aknunkanon looked at the girl with mock comfort, before looking back at Yami, "Don't worry, as soon as I'm done with her, your little angel will be next, then all the others. There is of course a way to stop all this. You only have to agree to become a demon again, then I'll stop this all."

Yami froze. If he agreed, he could save all their lives. He could stop all this madness by just giving up his soul. What was his life compared to those of his friends? He was nothing, they were angels, and Kumiko had much more of her life ahead of her than he did. She could actually become someone useful to society.

But… No! He couldn't do this. Yuugi fought so he _wouldn't_ have to lose his soul. This man had hurt the two people in his life he cared about most, and he was just going to surrender? No, he'd never do that. He'd get back at this man for hurting the people he cared about, even it was the last thing he did.

Yami's eyes turned to Aknunkanon, the crimson turning to a garnet colour to show his anger. Aknunkanon froze and stared at him as if he'd just grown a second head, but Yami didn't care. This man wanted to kill Kumiko and Yuugi, together with the other three angels. He would _not_ let that happen. They had tried to protect him with their lives, tried to solve his problems for him, tried to save Kumiko even though it was his responsibility. It was time to help them now, pay them back for everything they'd done for him.

Yami placed Yuugi on the ground softly and stood up slowly, his furious gaze never leaving Aknunkanon's form. Black electricity sparked around him, as golden restraints appeared on his body; the restraints that were holding in his demonic powers. More electricity sparked, weakening the binds, as the shadows around him already responded to his awakening, magic. Flashes of everything that had happened in his life and the good Yuugi had brought into it shot through Yami's mind's eye. And this man, Aknunkanon, who claimed to be his father wanted to take that away from him? He was no better father than Yoru in that case.

Yami's eyes narrowed at that thought, and the magic in his body sparked further, the binds holding it weakening further until they were nothing more but thin threads.

One last memory flashed through Yami's head as the black electricity sparked fiercely, and the golden bind finally broke. A large amount of energy, magic, knowledge, and memories he had forgotten rushed over Yami, but the teen couldn't care. He felt something sprout out of his back, and could see black leather-like wings spreading from the corner of his eyes. The black electricity that had been sparking around him irregularly now blazed around him, forming a shield to protect him from any and all attacks, and a shadowy aura flared out around him. Yami could suddenly sense everything around him happening, could feel shadows shifting at his every will, and power flow through his veins.

He remembered his previous life and everything he'd done, and the knowledge of how to use all his powers washed over him. Yami's form stiffened slightly at the amount of information that was being processed all at once, but relaxed again as soon as the sudden assault on his brain ended.

Yami's eyes focused on the shocked form of Aknunkanon, his eyes staying the furious garnet colour they had been the minute the transformation had started. He saw the other's eyes shift over his form, taking in every detail and seemed not only shocked, but puzzled as well, though the glint of something that must've been happiness for the man was undeniable.

"My son, you've-"

"Shut up." Aknunkanon looked at his son in shock. The other had obviously broken the binds keeping his powers in check, so why was he telling him to shut up? Sure, Aknunkanon was puzzled by the fact that Yami had only regained his wings but the rest of his demonic features hadn't come back, but he guessed it was just because Yami was in fact a human. It didn't mean anything… did it?

"What's-"

"I said, shut up." Yami growled out for a second time, his wings spreading to emphasize his point. He could see the confusion in the other's eyes, and merely narrowed his own further, "I'll kill you." Yami attacked, not giving Aknunkanon any time to even so much as process what he had just said, let alone think of a possible defence.

* * *

**So... yeah. Yet another cliffhanger. I do have to honour my latest second name ya know. Besides, even though this was written a long time ago, I say I'm just because I'm sick. (What? Gotta use it for some good use ne?) Anyway, I'll cya all next week! Please Review!**


	14. Chapter 13: Family Fight

Heya people! I actually don't have much to put here... wow, that's a new one. Enjoy the rare moment people. Anyway, have fun with the chap and R&R! **

* * *

**

**--: 13 :--  
Family fight**

Aknunkanon was still too shocked to react to the sudden attack, but his Shadow Magic did protect him from most of the power behind Yami's attack. Aknunkanon stumbled backwards as Yami fist connected to his stomach. Even though that blow had been decreased in power, it had definitely hurt. His son had definitely regained all his power, even though his appearance was still human.

Kumiko, who was still in his arms, quickly used the surprised state the other was in to wrench herself from Aknunkanon's grasp, running over to her brother for protection even though she was slightly frightened by his new appearance. Yami followed her path closely to make sure she was safely behind him. _No one_ would hurt Kumiko.

Aknunkanon quickly straightened and build up his defences again, not really caring that Kumiko had just escaped him. Yami was already attacking the shadows protecting him, trying to weaken them so his blows wouldn't be stopped anymore, and Aknunkanon growled as he felt some of the magic slipping away from him.

"What are you doing! How dare you attack me!" Aknunkanon's own anger began to build up and his magic grew, though it didn't seem to impress Yami even the slightest bit.

"You hurt Yuugi, and you wanted to kill him and Kumiko." Yami growled, his voice low and dangerous. "I'll kill you for that." He attacked again, his magic trying to cut through Aknunkanon's. Both were too strong to win any territory though. Aknunkanon didn't budge a step backwards, and Yami refused to be thrown back into the air – as he was hovering in it in an attempt to attack.

Eventually Yami flew backwards a bit, still glaring daggers at the demon below him but figuring he needed a new strategy. Head on attacks were too easily blocked by the shadows surrounding Aknunkanon. He needed to come up with a way to get through those defences… but how?

He tried to remember pieces of the fight between Aknunkanon and his angelic friends, as well as searching through what he figured was his previous memory to find a way to get through.

The angels had distracted the demonic overlord, thereby letting the man focus his energy on someone else and leaving blind spots to his magic shield. This was of course a great plan, but Yami was alone and had no one to distract Aknunkanon with. Okay, so throw that plan went out of the window that wasn't even there.

He could clearly remember all the spars he'd had with Aknunkanon, and the way his magic had always had an overweight on Aknunkanon's. He'd always toyed with the other, before simply crushing him, no contest at all.

Well Aknunkanon obviously hadn't been sitting still while he was growing up again. Damn that demonic bastard.

Wait a second, he did remember something else. Aknunkanon loved to use that 'fear cage' on people, but it only worked on those who were weaker than him. If Yami could get Aknunkanon to believe that he… yeah, that could work.

Yami quickly lowered his energy outlet as Aknunkanon fired a Shadowball and he let himself get hit. The blast barely fazed him, but for the sake of his plan he'd pretend to be hurt more than he really was. Since his energy outlet was now less, it appeared like he was hurt. Now if only Aknunkanon would fall for it so Yami could get closer.

Aknunkanon smirked as he saw Yami flinch from the blast, and his energy decreasing. Well it seemed Yam might've gotten his powers back, but didn't know how to fully use it all to his advantage. That blast could've been easily blocked by the shadows Aknunkanon too used as a shield, but the other obviously had no idea how to use this power yet.

Well, time for his favourite manner of torture. Since Yami somehow got his power back without losing his soul, Aknunkanon would just have to drive him crazy until the other did exactly what he wanted. And what better to drive someone to insanity than by using _fear_.

Fear, in Aknunkanon's eyes, was the most powerful weapon of all. It could paralyze you, make you do things you never would've done normally, and could of course turn you insane. Aknunkanon loved to induce fear on others, which was why he loved to use 'fear's cage' so much.

With every bit of speed he possessed, Aknunkanon flew up to grab Yami. Yami appeared to be too slow in his reflexes to react on time, and Aknunkanon managed to grab his head.

The shadows that sought through one's soul to find the fears this curse worked on entered Yami's body. Yami simply mentally snorted as his own Shadow Magic blocked them, before getting rid of them. On the outside though, Yami let his eyes widen, the fear he'd seen in Yuugi's eyes when Aknunkanon hit him with this curse shining in his eyes as his body went ridged.

Aknunkanon smirked, "There, now I'll just put you in a dungeon and keep working on you like this until you're so insane you'll do anything to stop this, anything to please me, _anything_." Aknunkanon threw his head back, laughing insanely as he did. Because of this though, he didn't notice Yami smirking as the teen relaxed. Aknunkanon was simply too caught up in his own victory to notice, and Yami couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. He wasn't _that_ weak.

"Bastard, learn the weaknesses of your own attacks." Yami growled out before turning in Aknunkanon's grasp and kneeing the other quite painfully. Aknunkanon clutched his stomach in pain, again distracted from what Yami was doing. Yami took the offered opportunity to crush Aknunkanon's face into his knee first, then doing a roundhouse kick to crash the demon into a wall. A quick Shadowball followed, making the ruler cry out in pain.

Yami smirked as he saw the other glare fiercely at him. "That 'fear's cage' only works on those weaker than you. Even if I'm not stronger, I'm not weaker either so it won't work on me. You yourself taught me that."

Aknunkanon growled, "Maybe I taught you a bit too well." His irritation only grew as he saw Yami's smirk widening, the shadowy aura flaring out around him again. He spread his wings, flying out of the crater in the wall with one strong beat of his wings and attacking Yami head on this time. Yami purposefully let his Shadow Magic slow the other down, making sure Aknunkanon would put all his strength into going forward, before letting the pressure drop to zero in an instant and making Aknunkanon lose control of his speed for a moment. Yami simple flew to the side, making Aknunkanon crash into another wall.

Yami had to hold back his laughter at the furious face of Aknunkanon as the other came out of the wall. "I see you really like walls; want to get to know the other two as well?"

Aknunkanon glared for all he was worth, "You're going down, I don't care if you're a useful asset to me and my plans to conquer Heaven." He created a powerful Shadowball and threw it at Yami, the ball easily cutting through the magic defences.

Yami quickly flew to the side again to dodge the ball of Shadow Magic, before creating one of his own and throwing it at Aknunkanon. The other dodged as well, but couldn't avoid the spell that hit him after that. Aknunkanon tried to move out of the way for the next attack, but discovered that he couldn't move anymore. His eyes widened as he realized Yami had used a petrify spell.

Petrify spells wouldn't last long on him as his Magic was already eating away at the magical binds, but it would give Yami more than enough time to pound in on him again.

And of course Yami knew this as well.

Yami quickly flew over to Aknunkanon, kneeing the other in the stomach, before doing another roundhouse kick. As Aknunkanon crashed into the floor this time, Yami sought the memory of his last live in search of some nice spells to hurt the other. Aknunkanon had been right partially in his assumption that he was still regaining his powers slowly, but it was definitely going faster than what the other thought. The second memory he now had, even though he hated it because it showed him all the murders he was guilty of really, also gave him access to all the spells and tactics he'd ever thought up.

Which were quite a lot, too much to process all at once actually.

So Yami simply searched through the other memory in an attempt to discover any spells he could use that hadn't been processed into his brain yet. He found quite some painful and useful ones actually, though he was looking for something that would help him on a somewhat longer basis.

He smirked as he found something that would be quite useful to him, and prepared the energy that he would need for it. It was a very hard spell, and took a lot of energy, but if it worked it would slowly eat Aknunkanon up from the inside, and there was nothing the other could do about it.

Aknunkanon rose from the floor again, his anger growing with each attack Yami successfully pulled off. Sure, back when Yami had still been a full-blood demon he'd kicked his ass each and every time they'd sparred, but this was different. This was a human version of his son who was still learning to control all of his powers. How could this brat be beating him?!

Rage blinded Aknunkanon's sense of good judgement and the demon rushed towards Yami with the fullest intension of killing the other now. He didn't care anymore that he wanted to use the other for his battle against God; this had become personal to him.

Yami just smirked as he saw the enraged look on Aknunkanon's face. Someone that fought with rage in his heart would be blinded and attack foolishly and without strategy. This gave Yami exactly the opportunity he needed for his plan.

Yami quickly grabbed one of Aknunkanon's arms as he flew to the side to dodge the attack, twisting the arm behind his back and making the demon growl in pain. Before Aknunkanon could respond to Yami's attack though, Yami's nail pierced the skin on his neck, forcing shadows into Aknunkanon's body, before pushing the other away with a hard blow to the back. Even though he had no claws and his nails were still that of a human, he could use the Shadow Magic to help him pierce Aknunkanon's skin with ease, making even the blunt human nails a deadly weapon when used in the right way.

Aknunkanon growled as he flew back, before grabbing his neck and glaring at Yami. "What was that?!" he hissed, not happy to see the victorious smirk on the other's face. What had the other just done? And why couldn't he even feel the shadows that Yami had forced into him anymore? His magic had definitely not gotten rid of them yet, so where were they?

"I just used an all time favourite of the demon me, 'poison claw'." Yami grinned as he saw realisation dawn on the other's face. 'Poison claw' was an attack that forced shadows into the bloodstream of someone, mingling the already deadly weapon with the essence that even demons needed to live. When these particular shadows were mixed with blood though, the body reacted to it quite… deadly. The blood would turn into a poison that coursed through the person's veins, poisoning every inch of the victim's body. It didn't matter whether you were human, demon, or even angel for this. The mixing and poisoning went so fast that there was nothing you could do against it, and the poison would slowly eat away at the body from the inside, causing it immense pain and an energy loss.

Of course this was a very slow process, and therefore only made the suffering longer.

Yami could definitely see why he had loved this attack in his previous life.

Aknunkanon winced as the first stings of pain shot through his body. Damn, he'd have to hurry if he still wanted to beat Yami somehow, or else his body would simply be paralysed in pain and you couldn't exactly fight like that. Well if he wanted to win this he'd have to start taking major risks.

Aknunkanon created a large ball of Shadow Magic, the magic defences in his body still trying to stop the poison weakening because of it and giving the poison easier access to him. He flew up to Yami, the surprised human-turned-half-demon too stunned at the sudden attack to do anything as the ball of magic was thrown into his face.

Yami cried out in pain as the dense ball hit him, throwing him into a wall for a change. Aknunkanon charged blindly at him again, punching Yami further into the wall since the teen hadn't gotten a chance to recover from the impact yet. Yami cried out more, trying to regain control of the situation. Shadowy tendrils grabbed Aknunkanon's wrists and ankles, stopping the older man from pounding into Yami. Yami shook his head for a moment to clear his slightly blurry vision, before glaring at the man in front of him.

"You'll pay for that." Yami punched Aknunkanon in the face harshly, releasing the man from the binds he had put on him. Aknunkanon backed away at the impact, but Yami simply tackled him into the last wall, using Aknunkanon's body to make sure he wouldn't get hurt too much.

Aknunkanon gasped as sharp pointed rocks pierced the skin on his back. Yami had crashed him into a piece of wall that had already been partially destroyed at one point, making the sharp edges dig into his skin and the now spike-like pieces of stone cut him open. Purple poisoned blood ran from the wounds, burning away at the skin it touched and Aknunkanon winced, mentally cursing Yami for remember such an attack so fast.

"You told Yuugi it was useless to keep fighting a battle you can't win. Now I'm telling you. You can't win if your body is slowly decaying from the inside, destroying itself. So why don't you just be a good little bastard and keel over already ne?" Yami smirked at the frustrated and pained face of Aknunkanon, before giving the other a harsh punch in the gut. Aknunkanon spit up blood as he clutched his stomach.

Aknunkanon glared at Yami and launched himself at the other again, desperate to do some damage while he still could. Yami groaned as he was punched in the gut, but then pounded Aknunkanon into the ground below, followed by a dense ball of Shadow Magic. He could see Aknunkanon trying to get up, his body shaking and every muscle aching with the burn of the poison running through the body. Aknunkanon formed a new Shadowball, weakening himself further and blurring his vision. He threw it at Yami, but the teen didn't even have to move to have the ball miss him. He saw Aknunkanon dropping to the ground again, his body too weak to keep him up now.

Yami landed on the ground, standing next to Aknunkanon as he checked the other. The poison had almost completely deleted the man's energy resources, his body was burning on the inside and out, and he no longer had a focussed look on his face.

"You deserve to be left here, to die the slow and painful death that the poison is supposed to give you. But lucky for you, I've still got my human side so I won't do that to you." Yami created a last dense Shadowball, the power radiating off it alone telling this was meant to kill the dying ruler.

Yami simply dropped the ball as he turned around walking away without even so much as granting the other another look. As he lifted his downcast gaze from the ground, he could not only see Kumiko and the four forms of his friends finally relaxing as eyes opened, but also noticed for the first time that they weren't the only ones in the room anymore. Demons were gathered at every entrance to the room, staring in shock and horror at the scene in front of them. Yami silently cursed at not having noticed them before, but then again he'd been too busy focusing on the fight really. Well he'd have to get rid of them, preferably without fighting as his own magic was quite low.

"Listen up!" Yami called out in a voice that demanded respect and radiated authority. Yuugi looked up as he heard the new tone in Yami's voice, and his eyes widened at seeing Yami with demonic wings spread to full size behind him. Had Yami accepted the deal? Had he become a demon again just to save them?

Yuugi glanced passed Yami for a second to see the dead form of Aknunkanon laying there. If Yami'd become evil… then why had he killed Aknunkanon? Well there was only one way to find out really, and that was to listen to what his boyfriend had to say.

"Aknunkanon is dead, and I'm the one who killed him. Anyone foolish enough to attack me or my friends will be killed in a very slow and painful manner." Yami walked forward to stand with the four angels and Kumiko, who was currently being held by Yuugi. He gave them all a quick reassuring smile to show that he wasn't evil, and still very much sane.

All demons present backed away, fear showing clearly in their eyes. Yami smirked at the sight, and continued. "If I discover even one demon following me, spying on me or anything of the sort the same punishment will apply. I suggest that you tell all of your kind of my warning, or there will be a drastic decrease in population here in Hell. Now, if you'll all excuse me and my friends, we're leaving. Anyone want to stop us?"

Again all demons took a step back, clearing a path for Yami and the rest to take. Yami's smirk only widened. Oh he liked this power, he liked it a lot.

"Good." Was all Yami said before he crouched down next to Yuugi and taking Kumiko from him, "Are you okay, Tenshi?" Kumiko nodded hesitantly, still getting used to the fact that her brother now had wings, though deep down already making plans to force him into flying her around. Well at least they wouldn't be needing a car.

"Yami… are you…?" Yuugi glanced from his friends to his lover questioningly. Yami just chuckled before standing up, Kumiko safely in his arms.

"I really am okay, Aibou. Let's go home and I'll explain everything to all of you okay?" He flapped his wings to hover in the air as he saw the others hesitantly get up and follow his example. As they flew out of Hell, the eyes of every demon that saw them turned away in fear. Yami smiled at knowing that he would probably not see another demon in a long time.

* * *

**No, this was not the last chap, duh. Still havne't wrapped up everything so yeah. There's only one more chap, AKA the epilogue left though, so cherish the chap. Good new is that I'm working on the sequel... bad news is that I don't have a lot of inspiration for it. I've been in a writer's block for weeks and it's starting to annoy me really. °sighs° Anybody have any ideas for me?**


	15. Epilogue: Home sweet home

**°Stares° Wow... this is the last chapter... Yes, you can all now start crying, I know it´s very depressing. Well, I hope you all have fun with the epilogue! R&R!

* * *

**

**--: Epilogue :--  
Home sweet home **

Yami landed softly in an abandoned alley, making sure to check if no one could see him, though it wasn't likely since most were already inside and dusk had set some time ago already. Kumiko had fallen asleep during the flight, and was snuggled into his chest safely, an aura of contentment around her.

"She really looks cute like that." Yami glanced aside to see Yuugi landing there, an adoring smile on his face as he looked at Kumiko, though Yami could feel weariness in the other's aura. His heart clenched at the feeling, but he knew it was only natural.

The other three angels landed behind him, their auras practically beaming with caution and weariness. Yami actually flinched as he turned around and saw the suspecting faces of whom he had considered friends. He sighed, looking at the ground.

"Look, I know none of you trust me right now, but I'm still the same person that you met yesterday; I still very much have a soul."

"Then how come you have your demonic powers and even your wings again huh?" Malik countered, "The only way for that to be possible is if you accepted Aknunkanon's deal, which means you lost your soul! Try and explain that demon-boy."

Yami clenched his fists and flinched again at the harsh words. Images of Aknunkanon fighting with all four angels, Yuugi falling to the ground, Aknunkanon threatening to kill all of them, starting with Kumiko and Yuugi flashed before his eyes. "He wanted to kill you all… starting with Yuugi and Kumiko…" his voice was strained as the old anger he'd experienced rushed over him again.

All angels glanced at each other hesitantly, before looking back at Yami apprehensively, "So…?" It wasn't meant to be uncaring, but more curious and questioning. Yami looked up, his eyes betraying his anger though all could see it wasn't aimed at them.

"I don't know what happened okay? I think I got so angry that my power, even though it was locked inside me, responded and broke the binds that held them." Yami shook his head and breathed deeply to get his temper in check again, before casting a quick spell to make his wings disappear until he'd need them again. All knowledge had by now been processed and he knew everything that had happened in his first life – some memories more wanted than others.

Yuugi looked at him, their eyes meeting and Yami allowed the other to look into his soul, to see that he hadn't changed one bit from the person who he had been before all this. A few moments passed by as the two just looked at each other, before Yuugi's face broke into a bright smile and he tackle-hugged Yami, careful not to hurt Kumiko.

Yami grinned and wrapped one arms around the smaller, holding Kumiko with the other, "So you believe me?"

Yuugi nodded, "Yeah, there's not much you can keep from me, Yami. And I don't see anything different in your soul except for the added powers."

Malik, Ryou, and Joey glanced at each other for a moment, before smiling and giving Yami and apologetic look, "Sorry, Yami… I just had to know for sure. I don't want to find Yuugi dead the next time we see him."

Yami chuckled, "It is okay. I would've been more surprised if you hadn't been suspicious of me. Now let's go to my place for some sleep; I'm tired."

All nodded and smiled, before casting spells to hide their own wings and walking to the large mansion-like house Yami lived in. Yami smirked at the though of seeing his father again this time. Sure, he wouldn't kill the man – even though he deserved it and Yami had the power – but the man wouldn't be able to touch him anymore without consequences.

They reached the house fairly fast, as Yami had landed not too far away from it. The sight that met their eyes though, was not the sight they had expected.

Police cars and ambulances surrounded the building, as police officers walked in and out. Tape lines were there to make sure no one came any closer, as people tried to get a peek of what was going on.

Yami walked closer, wanting to address an officer and ask what had happened for them to be all around the house, but the officer had already noticed him and beat him to the punch.

"Are you Atemu Yami-san?" Yami nodded a confused look still on his face. The officer sighed, before speaking again. "I'm sorry sir, but someone found your father in the yard not too long ago… he's dead.

Yami froze, his mouth opening slightly as he stared in disbelief, first at the cop, then at the house. "What? How? Why?" He couldn't make a coherent sentence for his life right now.

The officer sighed again before smiling gently at him, "I know this is hard, but we'll need to ask you some questions. Did your father have any enemies that might go to these extremes to get rid of him?"

"I don't know, he didn't talk about his work at all… I guess he must've had some, since he was running a business and all, but I have no idea who or why." Yami glanced at the officer again, "Can I please see him?"

The man looked at him first, then at Kumiko still in his arms, and last at the group still standing behind Yami, all looking at each other questioningly. "Only you, they stay outside and the girl-"

"Will stay with Yuugi." Yami finished before anything else could be said. Even if Kumiko was asleep, he didn't want her to wake up while he was standing near Yoru. He had no idea how the man looked, but he didn't want to take any chances here. He'd tried to keep the girl from having any traumas in her past, and he wasn't about to give her one now.

The officer nodded and Yami walked back to the group of four, before handing a sleeping Kumiko to Yuugi. The girl's face contorted for a moment as she was switched, before she snuggled into Yuugi's chest instead of her brother's. "I'll be right back, I just want to see if this might be demon related or not."

Yuugi and the other three nodded, and Yami walked back, following the officer he'd been talking to.

"So is anything out of the ordinary with his death? Since you're investigating it so thoroughly and all." Yami tried to sound timid and a bit distraught, but he feared a bit of urgency might've slipped into his voice; He didn't want to sound suspicious, as he knew he was going to be a suspect.

The officer didn't seem to notice though, "Well, there are two strange things about it. One, there are burn marks in his right hand, but we don't know what the symbol means, or if it even means anything at all. The second is that there is no apparent reason for his death. His body seems to be in perfect condition; not a scratch on him except for the strange symbol on his hand, and all his organs were working just fine. We have no idea what happened to him.

Yami's eyes narrowed. Only magic could be the cause of something like this, and the symbol only proved it more. If he could just take a look at the symbol, he might just discover what kind of spell had been cast.

"Don't take too long, we want to get him to the morgue as soon as possible." Yami nodded as they reached the spot where Yoru was laying in a body bag, the zipper still undone so you could see the body.

Yami took a deep breath before looking at the man. His eyes were closed, but a pained and terrified expression was on his face. It was strange to see an expression like that on the face of a man that had beaten him up so many times while laughing and enjoying every second of it.

Yami's eyes slowly went over the entire body, his new senses picking up on a large amount of magic still radiating off the man. This had been a powerful spell, and if Yami wasn't mistaken, this was Aknunkanon's magic signature. So Aknunkanon had killed Yoru? This just made no sense.

Yami eyes finally stopped at Yoru's right hand, and the teen's eyes widened at the symbol that was indeed burned into the skin. He recognized the symbol at once as Aknunkanon's signature. When a demon made a deal with someone, both had to seal the deal by shaking upon it. By doing so, magic would imprint the other's signature into the other's skin to make sure the deal would be kept. If either of the two did not do so, that same magic would burst from the signature, killing that person instantly and leaving the mark visible to show that that person had not kept his promise.

So Yoru had made a deal with Aknunkanon? Judging by the amount of magic and how deep the mark on Yoru's hand was, quite some time ago too. But why? And what had the deal been?

"I'm sorry, but you'll have to leave again now." Yami glanced aside stiffly to see the officer motioning him to go back to his friends, "Do you have anyplace to stay? A friend's perhaps?"

Yami just nodded, knowing none of his friends had a house but not wanting to let it sound suspicious. After all, there were four teenagers standing there, it would be rather strange if none of them had a house.

"Good, we will need you to stay available for questioning. How can we reach you?"

Yami gave his cell phone number before walking back to his friends shakily, taking Kumiko back from Yuugi as he reached them. All left the scene quickly, not wanting to stay close to the house any longer.

"So what happened, Yami? Was it demonic work?" Joey looked at him curiously.

Yami sighed and stopped, looking at them seriously. "It was, but not in the way you think. His body was surrounded by magic, and the magic of Aknunkanon at that. Aknunkanon didn't kill Yoru though, not directly anyway. Aknunkanon's mark was on Yoru's hand, so Yoru-"

"Had not kept to a deal he had made with Aknunkanon!" Malik exclaimed, shock in his voice and expression. It wasn't everyday you heard something like this, especially not with humans. Demons tended to stay away from them, thinking them too weak to be useful.

"So you don't know what kind of deal he might've made with Aknunkanon?" At the shaking of heads, Yami sighed and glared at the ground, "Damn it."

It was silent for a while as they all just stood there until a new voice, one that Yami didn't recognize, suddenly sounded, "Maybe I can help you with that."

All looked up with surprised eyes to see a brunette with cerulean-blue eyes staring at them with an emotionless expression, his aura beaming with angelic powers though his wings were hidden by a spell.

"Seto!" Joey grinned as he nearly tackled the other to the ground, making the brunette scowl though you could see playfulness in his eyes as he hit the blonde on the head.

"How many times do I have to say not to do that?"

"I dunno, keep tryin' and we'll find out ne?" Joey grinned as he hugged the teen. Yami stared for a second before glancing to Yuugi.

Yuugi was holding back giggles at the sight of the two arguing teens in front of him. He glanced up as he felt Yami's gaze on him and smiled, "Seto's Joey's boyfriend, and practically the right hand of God himself. He can be quite a snob and has an ego to boot, but he's okay when you get to know him."

Seto snorted as he finally released himself from Joey's grip, and glared as Malik burst into laughter. He'd never been able to get along with the platinum-blonde that well.

"As I was saying," Seto started again as Malik finally calmed down, though his glare remained, "I know why Yoru is dead at the moment."

Yami looked at the other seriously, all amusement forgotten for now.

"Your dearest father made a deal with Aknunkanon the day your mother was killed. The deal was that Aknunkanon would keep Yoru out of prison, and would give him wealth, luxury and fortune. In return, Yoru simply had to make sure you would accept Aknunkanon's deal on your eighteenth birthday. This is why Yoru has been beating you all these years; he wanted to make you distrustful of the world and hunger for revenge. Needless to say, you did not agree, and so Yoru had not kept his end of the deal, resulting into what you saw back there." Seto had said it like it was the most normal thing in the world, and that irked Yami slightly. The teen pushed it aside for now though, as he had more important things to think about.

"So he simply sold my soul for his own gain." Yami stared at the ground, a glare on his face. "Why didn't your God stop this? Didn't he know what could happen if I had accepted Aknunkanon's deal?"

"No, he did not. And seeing as this life was your punishment for killing so many, God found it only fitting that Yoru was so harsh to you. However, you have shown that you are no longer the demon that you were in your last life. You did not accept Aknunkanon's deal, you never gave into temptation even with the life you have lived, and you regained your demonic powers without losing your soul. God is impressed."

Yami snorted, "And what does that mean for me? That he'll finally stop being a jerk and let me live a normal life?" He understood that he had deserved a punishment, and a harsh life would indeed seem fitting with all the suffering he had caused, maybe a bit too little in fact. Sadly enough Kumiko had also been drawn into this life, as had his mother. They had been punished for something he had done, and that was not fair.

Seto chuckled at Yami's response, "One thing that'll never change; your attitude. Let's hope Yuugi can do something about that, if he stays."

Yuugi looked up at Seto in confusion. "What do you mean, 'if' I stay'? Even if I wanted to go back I couldn't; I broke the rules and gave up being an angel… isn't this only temporary?"

Seto shook his head, "No, you have a choice again, Yuugi. Your angel powers have been restored to full, so it is once again your choice whether you want to stay mortal, or come back with us."

Yuugi stared wide-eyed at the brunette. He could become an angel again? He could really come back to Heaven if he chose to?

On the other hand, he had Yami here now. He had come to Earth not only to help the other, but also because he had fallen in love with his look-alike. Those feelings had only gotten stronger as he had spent more time with Yami, and now they were a couple…

But grandpa… his friends… God, this was giving him a headache. Why did he have to make this choice again?! The first time had been hard enough; he didn't want to choose again!

Yami watched silently, sensing mixed feelings going through Yuugi's aura. A want to stay, countered by a need to go back to his friends and family. The love he felt for each of his friends, countered by the love he felt for Yami. Even by just feeling it as an outsider Yami flinched at the headache forming, and he wasn't even the person experiencing all of this. He could only guess what Yuugi was really going through right now.

And he could only hope that the smaller would choose him. He would understand if Yuugi went back – his family and friends were obviously very important to him and there was no doubt that he had missed each and every one of them – but he still hoped Yuugi would stay with him. He wasn't sure if he could let the one person that had brought so much good into his life go.

Yuugi swallowed and looked at each of the people present. Joey, Malik, Ryou, Seto, and last Yami. None had said nothing since Seto had given him his choise once againYuugi knew they wanted him to make his own choice, one that he would be happy with. He could see different emotions in all of their eyes though. Hope, desperation, love, and Yuugi wasn't sure if he could let any of them down right now. He had made his choice though, and he would once again keep to the choice had made.

He slowly walked over to the group of angels that had gathered on one sidesensing Yami's aura become sadder immediately. Yuugi smiled sadly at the feeling.

"Yuug?" Yuugi sighed deeply, before taking his three friends in a hug. The hug was returned gladly, but confusion shone in all eyes and auras. Yuugi pulled away and gave his friends a sad smile this time, "I'm sorry guys, but I'm staying with Yami."

Yami's aura lit up in happiness, though sympathy shone in it as well. The three angels looked at the ground, their aura's showing sadness, though understanding as well.

"Yeah, we kinda expected it." Joey sighed and looked up, tears in his eyes, "But at least you're not runnin' off like ya did last time, we actually get ta say goodbye now."

Yuugi blushed. When he had left Heaven the first time he hadn't told any of his friends where he was going or why, simply leaving a note with an apology for not saying farewell. He knew his friends would've tried to stop him, and he figured that this way it would've been less painful.

"Yeah, he's too good a guy to let go of." Malik winked in Yami direction, before giving Yuugi a crushing hug. He let go before Yuugi could even start to protest though, and walked over to Yami. "You hurt him and you deal with me, understood?" Yami could hear the playfulness, as well as the seriousness in Malik's voice. Malik did mean what he said, but the platinum-blonde wasn't expecting Yami to do anything of the sort.

Yami smirked, "Well as long as that doesn't include anything that happens in bed, no problem." Malik held back his laughter as Yuugi blushed furiously at the statement.

"Yami!"

He didn't get to say anything else, as Malik grinned and cut him off, "Oh hush, Yuugi. We all heard you moaning his name last night, so save your breath."

Yuugi's blush deepened, but he kept quiet. Any comment made right now would only be turned against him by Malik.

Ryou – a slight blush on his cheeks as well – chuckled at the sight and gave Yuugi a hug as well, "We'll miss you, Yuugi. Take care."

Yuugi's smile returned and he gave Ryou a hug as well, "Don't worry, Ryou. You know me."

"Dat's why he's sayin' it; you always get inta trouble." Yuugi pouted at the smugly grinning blonde standing next to Seto.

"Meanie!" Everyone but Seto laughed.

Seto watched the scene pass with interest, waiting for the right time to make his next announcement. Of course God had seen Yuugi's decision coming – the boy had already given up everything once when he was only in love, so why would he go back now that he was actually together with the one he'd wanted so much – and had one more surprise for the small group.

"Are you all done saying goodbye? Because I wasn't finished speaking yet." Malik glared, Joey looked at him annoyed, Ryou looked at the ground in hurt, and Yuugi looked ready to attack him. Seto made a mental note not to be so blunt about these things anymore.

"You can be such a pain!" Joey hit Seto on the head, looking away and obviously angry. Seto huffed at him, and glared at the blonde's back.

"Well if you would let me talk, you'd know why I'm interrupting your sweet moment of farewell."

"Well then spill." Malik growled, he himself also about to attack if the angel said anything wrong.

Seto rolled his eyes at the looks, "God is making an exception for us since he already knew Yuugi would choose Yami. We can all come visit whenever we want as long as we don't get caught."

Silence ruled over the group after Seto's calmly spoken words, jaws all slack and eyes wide before all snapped out of their stunned shock and cheered, tackling Yuugi to the ground in happiness.

Yuugi yelped as he fell to the ground in surprise, but laughed with his friends after that. Seto could indeed be a pain, already making them say goodbye while that wasn't even necessary. Joey would probably rant to him about that later though, so Yuugi just let it go.

"Guys! Get off me!" Yuugi laughed, but their weight was crushing him. Still baring wide smiles the other three angels got off him, Joey tackling Seto again. The brunette grunted and glared playfully at the other again, but didn't object to it.

After everyone was calmed down from their hyper-like states and Joey had released Seto from the strangle hold he'd been holding the other in, they turned a bit more serious again. Yuugi glanced at his four friends, "Hey Seto? My powers… are they…"

Seto smirked, "Nope, God's even leaving that intact. I had to nag him about that for a while but he gave in after I said Joey would most likely drag you back to Heaven anyway, and it would be safer to let you keep your wings in case he dropped you." Joey whacked him on the head for that comment, but Seto's smirk just widened tauntingly. Yuugi chuckled at the sight and the thought of Seto arguing with God like that.

"Thank you, Seto." The brunette nodded, before going back to his newly started argument with Joey. Yuugi could feel the wonderment in Yami's aura at how these two managed to be together, and couldn't help but wonder the same thing sometimes.

"Well, we really do need to go back…" Malik trailed off, on one hand not wanting to leave his friend behind, and on the other wanting to go back to his home. Yuugi smiled as Ryou and Joey's aura's reflected similar feelings.

"Don't worry guys. If I know Joey he'll want to come visit before the week is over." Joey pouted and Malik snickered, though all knew Yuugi was right.

"Now who's bein' the mean one huh? And besides, where are you gonna sleep?" Yuugi blinked for a second, already having forgotten about that little problem.

"Oh yeah."

Everyone sweat dropped, except for Yami who grinned as he pulled something out of the pocket of his jeans. He was surprised that it had survived the fight with Aknunkanon, but definitely not complaining about it.

"No problem, human daddy-dearest left me something." Everyone looked up to see Yami holding a credit card, obviously Yoru's.

"How the hell did you get that?" Malik stared at it, though he praised Yami for getting it. Yup, Yuugi had _really_ good taste. Getting beaten up and still daring to steal credit cards.

Yami shrugged, "He had so much money he never noticed if I stole one of these, so at one point I just kept one. He didn't even notice he was giving me money like this."

Everyone shook their heads before once again turning to Yuugi and saying goodbye, though less permanent this time. The four angels, after making sure no one was around to see them, let their wings appear and flew into the sky, waving one last time before casting spells that would take them back to Heaven. Yami and Yuugi waved until all four were gone, before sighing and starting towards the centre of town where there was bound to be a hotel or something.

Yoru's case was never solved, as no one could find a real reason why the man had died. Since Yami had never told anyone Yoru had been abusing him, and all his bruises, cuts, and scars had healed due to his demonic powers, the police had no reason to suspect him or Kumiko, and they were quickly cleared from the suspect list. No demon showed itself, and any demonic presence being on Earth, for their own reasons disappeared as soon as they felt Yami's aura.

Since Yami was legal and the only heir to Yoru really, he inherited not only Yoru's money, but also his company. Of course he had no idea what his father had been doing – the man didn't exactly talk much to him, except when it was mocking or taunting – so he had to be taught everything after he had decided to keep the company. He figured he could do something useful with it and he needed money if he wanted to live in this world, as well as stay Kumiko's caretaker.

Becoming Kumiko's caretaker had taken some magic since the judge had definitely not thought he could take care of the girl, but it had worked. Yami also understood now how Yoru had gotten away with the death of his mother.

Yoru's house had also been left for Yami, but he had sold it, not wanting to stay in a place that reminded him so much of everything Yoru had ever done. With the money of the house and that which he had inherited he had easily bought new house where he, Kumiko, and Yuugi now lived.

Sadly though, there are always those who will interfere with something that seems to be perfection. Some will disturb it purposefully, some by accident. Whichever, Yami as the son of the late demonic overlord, cannot escape this and without meaning to he will draw danger towards him once again.

* * *

"Isn't it getting a bit late, Yami?" Yuugi glanced up at the darkened sky as he and Yami sat in the park. Kumiko had gone over to a friend for a sleepover that night and they had decided to go for a walk before spending a simple quiet evening at home. With no reason to go home early, the two had lost track of time.

"Yeah, we should probably head home." Yami nodded and stood up from the ground where he'd been sitting against a tree. Yuugi rose as well, dusting himself off for a moment before they both headed towards the exit of the park, chatting happily without a care in the world.

Two strange auras made them both stop in their tracks and they looked up, Yami's eyes narrowing dangerously as he felt obvious demonic power radiating from the auras. Had his warning finally faded from memory and were demons now daring to come close to him again? Yami mentally growled at the though. He had no interest in once again being involved in demon business.

Two black-winged figures fell from the sky, seemingly unable to keep themselves airborne. As they hit the ground with loud cries of pain, Yuugi and Yami hesitantly glanced at each other. Yuugi slowly stepped closer to the two figures, unsure if he should really get any closer to demons, hurt or not.

The first demon seemed to be hurt the most, blood covering multiple parts of his body and even clinging to his long white hair. His eyes opened slowly as a long string of curses came from his mouth, russet orbs taking in where he had crashed before landing on Yuugi and pausing there in surprise.

The second, less hurt though blood still clung to him in many places, sat up slowly with a few groans of pain, rubbing the back of his head with the arm that seemed to be the least hurt. He had long untamed platinum-blond hair and lilac eyes that were oddly tinged with red. A note of insanity seemed to emit from those eyes, as if the owner wasn't completely sane anymore.

Yuugi glanced back at Yami again hesitantly, seeing the other glaring at the two forms on the ground. The two demons seemed to be confused as to where they were, and considering their wounds Yuugi doubted that they had meant to land in front of the late overlord's son, who had demanded all demons stay away from him.

He looked back at the two demons, swallowing slightly and wondering why he was about to ask what he was going to ask, but knowing that not halping these two would go against his very nature. On top of that, the two emitted a very similar feeling as Yami did, that of a soulful demon. Odd and very rare, but not impossible. Yuugi had heard of the phenomenon before, though he had no idea how it worked exactly.

"Who are you?"

The white-haired demon groaned, apparently unable to answer the question. The platinum-blonde grinned, deciding to answer since his companion was unable.

"Mariku is Mariku and Bakura is Bakura." He pointed to his friend at the latter name. His voice echoed the insanity that Yuugi had noticed in his eyes before, "We're running from demons because they kill people."

Yami and Yuugi both blinked at the answer, glancing at each other questioningly. Neither knew what to reply to that, but one thing was sure from that answer.

The upcoming time would be rather interesting again.

* * *

**And that, dear people, is the end of the fic! You may all now start to whine for the sequel that I have actually already started writing… yeah, just spoiled the whining… oh well. The sequel will be titles _'Let Go'_ so go check that out. Some other notes as well. **

**For all who are interested, the names Kumiko and Yoru actually have a meaning. Kumiko means 'Eternal Beautiful Child', and pretty much symbolizes Yami's love for her, as well as her innocence. Yoru means 'Night', because he pretty much turned Yami's entire life into an ongoing night with no sign of anything good. (Yes, I actually thought of some meaningful names people! Fear me!) **

**I'll be posting the prologue of the sequel next week, but I don't know if I'm going to start weekly updating it after that yet. My writer's block is annoying me like hell but it seems to be getting less, partially thanks to all the ideas you've been sending in. They really helped me, thanks! Anyway, I hope I can just start updating it like I usually do but I'm not sure, so you'll hear more about that next week. **

**And for the last note, I'd love to dedicate this entire fic to my editor (who has quit because she thinks she does a bad job O.o;; damn you Dodo!) and sorta twin sister (just forget about the 2 years age difference and that we aren't related ne?) Dodo. She's the one that kept driving me to go on during NaNoWriMo because I wanted to beat her so bad to the 50k mark, and she also inspired a lot of pieces in this fic (and no people, she isn't being abused at home °sweatdrops°) You're the best Dodo, and I can't wait to see you during the summer holidays! **

**Well, I think that's it pretty much. Thanx to all my reviewers, you're the best, and I hope to see you all next week in the new fic! **

**Moony **


End file.
